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James Cooper

Dr James Cooper
  • Lecturer in Organic Chemistry
  • Placements and Careers Officer
  • Departmental Director for Postgraduate Studies

Office

222

Building location

Chemistry

Areas of interest

My research group is interested in the integration of stimuli-responsive macromolecules with soft matter. Our research encompasses both fundamental investigations and applied research.

We want to gain an understanding of how stimuli-responsive macromolecules operate in lipid membranes, which may lead to new therapeutics but will also serve to enhance our understanding of how biological membrane proteins operate and express their activity. This knowledge will enable us to integrate stimuli-responsive macromolecules with compartmentalised matter to generate out-of-equilibrium conditions and harness energy in a manner akin to biological cells.

We are also interested in incorporating stimuli-responsive macromolecules into synthetic materials, such as polymers and gels. The stimuli-responsive materials that result should undergo changes in their macroscopic properties, for example morphology and permeability and rheology, and give rise to controllable synthetic materials that can be used in biomedical devices and filtration technologies.

Our ultimate goal is to combine these two areas of research in order to create artificial soft matter that the properties of biological tissue, including regeneration, replication, adaptability and memory.

We are keen to work with individuals with an interest in synthetic, supramolecular or materials chemistry. If you have experience in these areas, are interested in working with us, or want to know more about our group, please get in touch!

For more information about our research and our research group, please see our group website: https://www.cooperchemistry.com/

Research centres and groups

Dr Cooper is part of the Soft Matter research group.

Learn more about our research groups

Academic qualifications

  • PhD Chemistry, University of Bristol, 2014
  • MChem Chemistry, University of York, 2010

Professional bodies/affiliations

  • Associate member of the Royal Society of Chemistry
  • Member of the American Chemical Society

Websites/blogs

Visit Dr Cooper’s research group website.

Publications

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