Kirsty McLean

39 Last checked 1 October 2020

I am a protein biochemist/enzymologist with an interest in using proteins or enzymes (nature’s catalysts) as drug targets to assist in the development of new drugs and antibiotics. The in depth characterisation of the protein target can help develop more specific and effective medicines. I am also interested in looking at the production of drugs, antibiotics and high value chemicals with biotechnological applications looking at, and utilising their enzymatic pathways and cascades.

I have a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Leicester, following a move with my supervisor from the Dept. of Pure and Applied Chemistry at the University of Strathclyde. I worked under Professor Andrew Munro at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) at The University of Manchester where I have been a member of a long-standing research collaboration with Professor Chris Abell’s group at the University of Cambridge. We have been characterising the drug target cytochrome P450s and other redox enzymes from the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the causative agent of TB). We are using structural biology and biochemical techniques to understand how these enzymes work and using the resultant crystal structures and biophysical properties of some of these enzymes to build new drug molecules. Other projects of biotechnological interest involve the characterisation of decarboxylase enzymes that make hydrocarbons like terminal alkenes, which are involved in the production of biofuels, in a joint project between the MIB and Industry.

I joined the University of Huddersfield as a Senior Lecturer in Cell Biology/Biochemistry in September 2020.

• Molecular and synthetic biology of bacterial systems
• Protein biochemistry and molecular enzymology
• Structural biology and biophysical techniques (including UV-Vis spectroscopy, EPR, Resonance Raman spectroscopy, LC- & GC-MS)
• Enzymes as drug targets and utilising enzyme pathways and cascades for the production of medicines and chemicals of biotechnological interest