Dr James Smith

I am a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences. I use my skills in chemistry and microscopy in a number of exciting and innovative research projects, and I particularly enjoy working with industry (successfully completing projects with L’Oreal, Kao, P&G, BASF, Croda, Natura, and others).

I recently teamed up with Dr Barbu to offer some of our surface science characterisation techniques for collaborative/commercial projects with industry – see Biomaterials Research Laboratory (BRL).

I am a Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society (FRMS), where I am an Editorial Board Member for Journal of Microscopy (since 2001), and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). I am also a Member of the Institute of Materials Finishing (MIMF), where I serve as Vice-Chairman on the Publications Committee (since 2011), and a Professional Member of the Institute of Nanotechnology.

I have co-authored over 150 publications since 1994 and have won a number of awards, including the Canning Bicentenary Medal for the best practical paper in the Transactions of the IMF, and the Vice-Presidents’ Fund Award of the RMS in 2012 for a collaborative public understanding of science project involving local artists.

I am regularly invited to talk about my research at various national and international meetings.

Outside of work, I am interested in photography and gardening, and live with my wife Jacqui and two cats, Zoe and Zara, in Whiteley.

I enjoy teaching chemistry to MPharm students, and microscopy and research skills to a variety of postgraduate students. I also enjoy PhD vivas.

Many things interest me, due to my background, experiences and collaborations. This diversity is reflected in 3 current PhD programmes in which I am Principal Investigator:

• Properties and performance testing of materials for marine cable connector assemblies (Jamila Joseph, Teledyne Impulse-PDM);
• Therapeutic effects of biguanides on brain tumours (Rita Buttrus);
• Developing novel targeted actives for the boron neutron capture therapy of brain tumours (Ashton Peat).