Analytical Research Forum 2019 (ARF19)

Melanie Bailey is a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of Surrey.  She has a first degree in physics (Manchester), a PhD in electronics and her faculty position is focussed on forensic science.  During this time she has worked as a Technical Expert of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Advisory Group for the International Conference for Particle Induced X-ray Emission.  She now holds an EPSRC Early Career Fellowship (5 years, commenced October 2018) which is aims to explore the possibility of combining the trace element and chemical information that can be provided with ion beam imaging with an array of mass spectrometry techniques.  

Graham Cooks received Ph. D.s from the University of Natal and Cambridge University, UK. He works with mass spectrometers, their fundamentals and applications. He is a past President of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, and a member of the National Academy of Inventors, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Science. He has had the privilege of advising and working with a hundred thirty six Ph. D. students.

Kamonwad Ngamchuea is a Lecturer in Chemistry at Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand. She graduated with a D.Phil. degree in Physical and Theoretical Chemistry from Oxford University in 2018. Her research is focused on the development of chemical sensors using electroanalytical and spectrophotometric methods. In particular, she has developed sensors for the detection of glutathione in blood, plasma and saliva, and has collaborated with medical researchers to realise a vision for at point-of-care testing of bipolar disorder. More generally, Kamonwad has been investigating the possibility of saliva as a non-invasive replacement of blood for health monitoring.

Fiona Regan is Professor in Chemical Science at Dublin City University and Director of the DCU Water Institute. Fiona studied Environmental Science and Technology and later completed a PhD in analytical chemistry in 1994. Following postdoctoral research in optical sensing in DCU, in 1996 she took up a lecturing position at Limerick Institute of Technology. In 2002 Fiona joined the School of Chemical Sciences as a lecturer in analytical chemistry, in 2008 she became senior lecturer and in 2009 became the Beaufort Principal Investigator in Marine and Environmental Sensing. Fiona’s research focuses on environmental monitoring and she has special interest in priority and emerging contaminants as well as the establishment of decision support tools for environmental monitoring using novel technologies and data management tools. Her work includes the areas of separations and sensors (including microfluidics), materials for sensing and antifouling applications on aquatic deployed systems.  Fiona has supervised > 25 students to PhD and MSc level, has a h-index of 29 publishing over 100 peer reviewed papers, book chapters, books and reviews. Fiona is an associate editor with the RSCs Analytical Methods and is also on the editorial board of the Journal of Ocean Technology,  and Bulletin of Environmental Contamination & Toxicology.

Rob Smith is a Senior Applications Chemist at Owlstone Medical Ltd based in Cambridge. Rob completed his PhD in analytical chemistry at Loughborough University in 2013, the work here focussed on the benefits of differential ion mobility spectrometry on single mass analysers which naturally progressed onto joining the growing Owlstone team. His research has focussed on developing and testing new technologies, including ion mobility mass spectrometry applications through to breath sampling and analysis. Rob was part of a multi-disciplinary team that developed the standardised breath sampler ReCIVA, bringing an off-the-shelf robust and repeatable sampling solution to the breath community which was greatly needed.  Breath analysis was achieved using thermal desorption combined with GC-MS and GC-FAIMS (stand-alone ion mobility detector), these are complementary approaches for performing both untargeted discovery and targeted quantitation of VOCs from breath.

Anna Regoutz is an Imperial College Research Fellow at Imperial College, UK, and a Visiting Scientist at Diamond Light Source, UK, and holds a CAMS-UK fellowship. She obtained a DPhil in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Oxford, UK, working on structural and electronic properties of metal oxides. Her research focus lies on bulk, thin film, and nano materials for application in devices, incl. power electronics, photovoltaics, and biosensors. She works on using and developing both laboratory- and synchrotron-based X-ray spectroscopy methods to study local chemical environments and electronic structure of bulk materials and at surfaces and interfaces, with a focus on electronic device heterostructures. In parallel to her research efforts, Anna is passionate about teaching and inspiring the next generation of scientists and actively encourages and hosts undergraduate research students in her group, and her undergraduate lectures at Imperial were awarded a Student Academic Choice Award for Best Teaching for Undergraduates in 2018. She serves as an Associate Editor for Frontiers for Young Minds, an open-access scientific journal written by scientists and reviewed by children.

Mark Seymour is a Syngenta Fellow in analytical science. He has worked for over 30 years in the pharmaceutical, fine chemical and agriscience industries and has held  positions in manufacturing, environmental sciences and R&D. He also has broad knowledge of quality management systems (GLP, GMP and ISO) having been both a QC manager and an auditor.  Mark has a BPharm degree from the University of Bath, an MSc in pharmaceutical analysis from Strathclyde University and a PhD in analytical chemistry from the University of Bath