Chalmers Chau

Profile

My academic background is interdisciplinary. I graduated from Queen Mary, University of London in BSc specialised in biomiedical science in 2015, then followed by a MRes in Translational Neurology in University College London in 2016. I obtained my PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology degree in University of Leeds in 2021. During the PhD degree, I focused on the development of a novel platform that utilises the latest nanopore nanotechnology to study the effects of protein aggregates inside cells.

Research interests

My primary research interest involves the use of solid-state nanopore as a single molecule detection tool, the detection mechanism is based on the Coulter principle. Two chambers of electrolyte are separated by the solid-state nanopore, upon establising an electric field in this set-up, analytes of interest can migrate from one chamber to the other side through the nanopore, and each molecule passing through the nanopore will leave a unique electric current fingerprint, this is known as the translocation signal.

DNA origami and DNA nanobricks are the main methods to generate DNA nanoparticles are one of the main theme of of DNA nanotechnology research, owing to the well characterised properties of DNA, conjugating different materials into the DNA nanoparticles is possible. My main research involves developing the method to conjugate protein affirmers, a small antibody mimic, into DNA nanoparticles. The affirmer conjugated DNA nanoparticles will be used to target acute kidney injury (AKI) diesase biomarkers from patient biological fluids, and finally, the DNA nanoparticles will be analysed by solid-state nanopore. The solid-state nanopore has the potential to differentiate the target bound DNA nanoparticles against the unbound DNA nanoparticles at single molecule resolution.

Beside my main research, I am also interested in the investigation of polymer electrolyte and its effect on the signal of the solid-state nanopore. During my PhD time, I established a method that utilised the concept of polymer electrolyte to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio of the translocation signals, the approach is very simple by dissolving large amount of polyethylene glycol into the electrolyte bath. Currently, I am interested in understanding how altering the electrolyte composition with different molecules would affect the translocation signal.

Qualifications

• PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Leeds
• MRes Translational Neurology, University College London
• BSc Biomedical Science, Queen Mary University of London