top of page

Professor Ian Hamley

Bioactive Self-Assembling Peptides and Lipopeptides: Sols and Gels

Short Abstract:

I will review selected examples of recent work in my group that exploits the self-assembly propensity of designed peptides to control their diverse structures and bioactivities in aqueous solutions and gels. I will discuss highlights of recent research on arginine-containing surfactant-like peptides which show strong interesting self-assembly behaviour (including hydrogel and emulsion formation) and selective activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. I will also briefly outline selected discoveries on bioactive self-assembling lipopeptides including those with anti-cancer, toll-like receptor agonist, organocatalytic and collagen-stimulating properties including those with bioactive gel properties. Finally, I will discuss work on amyloid peptides especially those containing the core KLVFF motif from Amyloid b (Ab) that are able to hinder the potentially damaging (neurodegenerative) aggregation of Ab.

​

Short CV:

Professor Ian W. Hamley is Diamond Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Reading. He has more than 25 years’ experience of research on different types of soft materials, including peptides, polymers, liquid crystals and surfactants. He received a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award in 2011, the RSC Peter Day Award for Materials Chemistry (2016) and the MacroGroup UK Medal (2017). His research programme focuses on the self-assembly of peptide materials and its relationship to bioactivity. He has supervised more than fifty postdoctoral and postgraduate researchers and has published over 400 papers and five authored books as well as many edited books and chapters.

bottom of page