We are delighted to announce that Dr Neil Bricklebank is now Professor of Chemistry!

Congratulations on this very well deserved promotion.

Neil Bricklebank is a chartered chemist working across the Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre and the Department of Biosciences and Chemistry where he is Professional Lead for Chemistry and Forensic Science. Neil has an international standing in the field of inorganic materials chemistry working at the interface of chemistry, nanomaterials and biological sciences. Neil currently leads a number of research projects including the synthesis and characterisation of functionalised gold nanoparticles for intra-cellular diagnostics and therapeutics and novel iodine-containing composites as wound healing materials, technology which is the subject of a recent patent application. He has considerable experience of knowledge-transfer and consultancy and has completed projects with local, national and multinational companies. For example, he is working with an SME, Aqualabs, on an EPSRC Industrial Case project investigating the up-take and distribution of nutrients in hydroponically grown plants.

Neil can demonstrate a sustained record of effectiveness in relation to teaching and learning, especially the organisation, leadership and management of teaching, leading the development and re-introduction of Chemistry degrees at Sheffield Hallam. He is a member of the standing committee of the influential UK Heads of Chemistry conference and was appointed a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2013. Neil has developed a series of Context/Problem Based Learning (C/PBL) case studies and embedded these into the chemistry course at Sheffield. He has a keen interest in vocational education and has been involved in the development of vocational routes into higher education. Neil believes passionately in public engagement and the importance of promoting science, especially chemistry, to children and young people, and regularly delivers lectures and hands-on workshops at both primary and secondary levels.

Professor Bricklebank's most recent research papers include

N. Lalwani, Y-S. Chen, G. Brooke, N.A. Cross, D.W. Allen, A. Reynolds, J. Ojeda, G.J. Tizzard, S.J. Colesand N. Bricklebank. 'Triphenylarsonium-functionalised gold nanoparticles: potential nanocarriers for intracellular therapeutics'. Chemical Communications, 2015, 51, 4109 - 4111 DOI: 10.1039/C4CC09304F

C. Seaman, B. Flindres, G. Eijkel, R.M.A. Heeren, N. Bricklebank and M.R. Clench.,'The "Afterlife Experiment": Use of MALDI-MS and SIMS Imaging for the Study of the Nitrogen Cycle within Plants' Analytical Chemistry, 2014, 86, 10071 - 10077. DOI: 10.1021/ac501191w