Dr Adam Brown

School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering

Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor)

Deputy Director of Research (CBE) – Commercialisation

A headshot of Adam Brown, who is half smiling
Profile picture of A headshot of Adam Brown, who is half smiling
adam.brown@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 7608

Full contact details

Dr Adam Brown
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Room G54
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Profile

I was appointed as Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Biopharmaceutical Engineering in 2018, and subsequently as Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in 2021.

My research group is focussed on rapid development of useful technologies that can be directly applied to improve the manufacture and performance of biopharmaceuticals. Specifically, we engineer new mammalian biological ‘components’ (e.g. nucleic acid constructs, cell and enzyme biocatalysts) that enhance the yield/quality of mRNA, DNA, cell, and viral vector products. Utilising bioinformatics, modelling, biodesign and high-throughput screening platforms, we work with biotechnology companies worldwide to provide solutions to complex bioengineering challenges. Our technologies have been translated into the ‘real-world’ via both successful bioindustrial collaborations and commercialisation activities (SynGenSys, SilViA).

Examples of recently developed technologies:

  • RNA polymerases for mRNA manufacture
  • Immunosuppressive nucleic acid constructs for DNA-based gene therapies
  • DNA and mRNA control switches for biomanufacturing and gene therapy applications.
  • Synthetic promoters for cell and gene therapies
  • Platform for CHO and HEK cell factory re-design/rescue
  • Signal peptides for cell and gene therapy products
  • Cell-based platform for mRNA production
  • DNA elements that enhance duration of plasmid gene therapies
Research interests
  • Biopharmacuetical production 
  • DNA and mRNA design 
  • Mammalian cell factory engineering 
  • Genetic expression vector engineering
Publications

Journal articles

Chapters

Patents

  • Brown AJ, James DC, Gibson SJ & Hatton D (2018) In silico design of mammalian promoters with user-defined functionality. WO 2018/193072 A1 Appl. 25 Oct 2018. RIS download Bibtex download
  • James DC & Brown AJ (2015) Synthetic promoters for CHO cells, methods of producing synthetic promoters using transcription factor binding site modules. WO2015079053-A2; WO2015079053-A3 Appl. 08 Oct 2015. RIS download Bibtex download
  • James DC & Brown AJ (2014) Regulating recombinant gene expression in vitro comprises providing a host cell encoding recombinant genes for expression, and contacting the cell with an exonuclease resistant block decoy. WO2014202640-A1 Appl. 24 Dec 2014. RIS download Bibtex download

Preprints

Grants

My lab is currently utilising research funding from UKRI and bioindustry (e.g., AstraZeneca, Lonza, CGTC, Takeda) to engineer synthetic biological components for i) enhanced production of therapeutic proteins, nucleic acids and viral vectors, and ii) improved in vivo performance of ATMPs.

Teaching interests

My teaching is focussed on equipping students with the knowledge and skills required to develop new biotechnologies that have real world applications. I lead a Y4UG/PGR module on Biopharmaceutical Engineering (CPE442/CPE6044) and supervise 4th Year BioEng/ChemEng and MSc research projects (CPE440/CPE6011). 

Teaching activities

I currently lead a module on Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing (CPE336/CPE6043), and supervise 4th Year BioEng/ChemEng and MSc research projects (CPE440/CPE6011). Awards: Commendation for Teaching Excellence - 2015-16, 2016-17, 2018-19; Best Lecturer (Level 3) – 2019/20