EPSRC funding awarded for biosensors research

Dr Karen Polizzi, Department of Chemical Engineering

Dr Karen Polizzi has been awarded a £228K EPSRC Adventurous Manufacturing Big Pitch grant for her research into biomanufacturing processes.

The EPSRC Manufacturing the Future Theme was initiated in 2011 and invests in highly adventurous manufacturing research to address four research visions; twenty-first century products, digital manufacturing, sustainable industries and new industrial systems.

Dr Polizzi’s work involves the application of synthetic biology methods to engineer better and more productive cell factories. Her funded project will focus on using living organisms as advanced analytics during biological manufacturing. Specifically, it will develop technologies that allow a dedicated population of biosensor cells to be cultured alongside those synthesising the product of interest without interfering with their productivity. This will maximise both sensing capabilities and the amount of product that is produced.

Dr Polizzi said: “I’m delighted to have received this funding to support my research. In recent years, my group has laid the scientific groundwork to develop biosensors. This project will focus on how to practically deploy these in industry”.