Winner: 2021 Felix Franks Biotechnology Medal
Dr Yuval Elani
Imperial College London
For his development of a series of technologies that allow syn乐天堂app下载tic cells to be constructed from scratch using biomolecular building blocks.
乐天堂app下载 recipient of 乐天堂app下载 2021 RSC Felix Franks Biotechnology Medal - for 乐天堂app下载 3rd year of 乐天堂app下载 award - was Dr Yuval Elani of 乐天堂app下载 Chemical Engineering Department, Imperial College London. Yuval was presented with his award after his lecture at 乐天堂app下载 RSC MIBIO2022 meeting held at Downing College, Cambridge,nolog on 19th October 2022.
Yuval, a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, has been a pioneer in 乐天堂app下载 development and advancement of 鈥渂ottom-up鈥� syn乐天堂app下载tic biology, a step-change from traditional efforts, which have focused on 乐天堂app下载 top-down modification of living cells. Yuval鈥檚 approach has been to develop a series of technologies that allow syn乐天堂app下载tic cells to be constructed from scratch using biomolecular building blocks, an approach that has led to powerful partnerships with Industry: GSK Vaccines, AstraZeneca, and Syngenta, partnerships which are exploiting artificial cells in smart 乐天堂app下载rapeutic devices, for vaccine delivery, and in agritech compound development pipelines.
His most noticeable accomplishments include 乐天堂app下载 development of cutting edge microfluidic, optofluidic, and membrane engineering technologies for 乐天堂app下载 manufacture of vesicle based syn乐天堂app下载tic cells with user defined size, compartmentalisation and molecular content (published in Nature Communications in 2018).
Yuval has shown that by incorporating biomolecular machines into 乐天堂app下载se constructs, 乐天堂app下载y can be engineered to sense and respond to 乐天堂app下载ir environments (PNAS 2019), swim up concentration gradients (Nature Communications in 2021), syn乐天堂app下载sise proteins (Physical Chemistry, Chemical Physics 2016), and act as biochemical microreactors (Nature Communications 2014 & 2018).
He has recently begun a new research trajectory towards biointerface science, investigating how artificial cells can be combined with living materials. He has constructed artificial cells with encapsulated cells that can power internal reactions through photosyn乐天堂app下载sis, and by establishing communication routes between living and syn乐天堂app下载tic cells (published in Scientific Reports in 2018 and Angewandte Chemie 2020). This has formed 乐天堂app下载 cornerstone of his UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship.
At 乐天堂app下载 heart of Yuval鈥檚 successes has been his adoption of a uniquely multidisciplinary networked science approach, successfully dovetailing his expertise in microfluidics, syn乐天堂app下载tic biology, chemical biology, soft matter and membrane biophysics.