Dr Sarah S Staniland

Sarah Staniland is a lecturer in Bionanoscience in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leeds. She obtained her MChem in 2001 and her PhD in magnetic materials in 2005 both from the University of Edinburgh, UK. She joined the University of Leeds after completing an EPSRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Overseas Life-science interface fellowship) between 2005 and 2008 in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. The fellowship involved exploring the use of magnetic nanoparticles from magnetic bacteria and enhancing these for nanotechnological applications. It involved working in laboratories with collaborators in the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and the University of Cape Town (UCT), Cape Town, South Africa and Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUoAT), Tokyo, Japan, during this time.

Research Areas: Biomineralisation of magnetic nanoparticles in magnetic bacteria

Biomineralisation of magnetic nanoparticles in magnetic bacteria

My research is intrinsically multi-disciplinary, spanning; magnetic characterisation, chemical synthesis, nanotechnological engineering, proteomics, genetics, environmental and micro-biology.

I am currently investigating naturally occurring, high-quality, magnetic nanoparticles biologically synthesised with a high degree of control within magnetic bacteria. I am enhancing these particles both in vivo and in vitro to tailor their properties for use in several nanotechnological and medical applications. I am also currently investigating biomineralisation protein functions in vitro with an interest in developing hybrid-chemical-protein-engineering biomimetic synthetic systems for controlled synthesis of superior magnetic nanoparticles