Dr Robert Falconer
BSc PhD
Senior Lecturer
Tel: +44 (0)114 222 8253
Fax: +44 (0)114 222 7501
Email: r.j.falconer@sheffield.ac.uk
Chemical and Biological Engineering
The University of Sheffield
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Research Interests
- Protein stability and formulation
- Interaction between proteins, water and small molecules
- Spectroscopy technology especially Terahertz time domain and far-infrared spectroscopy
- Micro-calorimetry
- Beverage manufacturing
Biography
As a postgraduate I worked at the biotechnology companies Biotech Australia and GroPep working on expression and purification of recombinant proteins, process design and quality management. I went on to graduate with a PhD in process design from the Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Adelaide in South Australia. I returned to the business sector working in production management at Diagnostic Systems Laboratories and Tuta Healthcare (medical diagnostics and medical device manufacturers, respectively). In 2003 I accepted a position as research coordinator at the Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Cambridge where I undertook research on protein refolding and virus-like particle self-assembly. I then worked at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) at the University of Queensland, undertaking research on protein stability and protein-small molecule interactions using micro-calorimetry and a range of spectroscopy techniques.
In 2011 I was appointed by the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield as a senior lecturer.
Key Papers
Ding, T., Li, R., Zeitler, J.A., Huber, T.L., Gladden, L.F., Middelberg, A.P.J., Falconer, R.J. (2010) Terahertz and far-infrared spectroscopy of alanine-rich peptides with variable ellipticity. Optics Express, 18: 27431–27444.
McRae, J.M., Falconer, R.J., Kennedy, J.A. (2010) Thermodynamics of grape and wine tannin interaction with polyproline: implications for red wine astringency. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 58: 12510–12518.
Falconer, R.J., Marangon, M., van Sluyter, S.C., Neilson, K.A., Chan, C., Waters, E.J. (2010) Thermal stability of thaumatin-like protein, chitinase and invertase isolated from Sauvignon blanc and Semillon juice, and their role in haze formation in wine. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 58: 975-980.
Hanslip, S.J., Zaccai, N.R., Middelberg, A.P.J., Falconer, R.J. (2008) Intrinsic fluorescence as an analytical probe of virus-like particle assembly and maturation. Biochemical and Biophysics Research Communications, 375: 351-355
Falconer, R.J., O’Neill, B.K., Middelberg, A.P.J., (1999) Chemical treatment of Escherichia coli: 3. Selective extraction of a recombinant protein from cytoplasmic inclusion bodies in intact cells. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 62: 455-460.