Dr Adam Brown
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor)
Deputy Director of Research (CBE) – Commercialisation
+44 114 222 7608
Full contact details
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Room G54
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
- Profile
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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
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- Biopharmacuetical production
- DNA and mRNA design
- Mammalian cell factory engineering
- Genetic expression vector engineering
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Expanding the RNA polymerase biocatalyst solution space for mRNA manufacture. Biotechnology Journal, 19(6). View this article in WRRO
- Protein-specific signal peptides for mammalian vector engineering. ACS Synthetic Biology, 12(8), 2339-2352. View this article in WRRO
- Engineering of the CMV promoter for controlled expression of recombinant genes in HEK293 cells. Biotechnology Journal. View this article in WRRO
- Bioinformatic design of dendritic cell-specific synthetic promoters. ACS Synthetic Biology, 11(4), 1613-1626.
- Control of Multigene Expression Stoichiometry in Mammalian Cells Using Synthetic Promoters.. ACS Synth Biol.
- Design of synthetic promoters for controlled expression of therapeutic genes in retinal pigment epithelial cells.. Biotechnol Bioeng.
- A platform for context-specific genetic engineering of recombinant protein production by CHO cells. Journal of Biotechnology, 312, 11-22.
- CHO Genome Mining for Synthetic Promoter Design. Journal of Biotechnology. View this article in WRRO
- Whole synthetic pathway engineering of recombinant protein production. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 116(2), 375-387. View this article in WRRO
- In silico design of context-responsive mammalian promoters with user-defined functionality. Nucleic Acids Research, 45(18), 10906-10919. View this article in WRRO
- Transcriptome-based identification of the optimal reference CHO genes for normalisation of qPCR data. Biotechnology Journal. View this article in WRRO
- Constructing Strong Cell Type-Specific Promoters Through Informed Design, 131-145.
- Precision control of recombinant gene transcription for CHO cell synthetic biology. Biotechnology Advances, 34(5), 492-503.
- NF-κB, CRE and YY1 elements are key functional regulators of CMV promoter-driven transient gene expression in CHO cells. Biotechnology Journal, 10(7), 1019-1028.
- Synthetic promoters for CHO cell engineering. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 111(8), 1638-1647.
- Block decoys: Transcription-factor decoys designed for in vitro gene regulation studies. Analytical Biochemistry, 443(2), 205-210.
- Engineering an Escherichia coli based in vivo mRNA manufacturing platform. Biotechnology and Bioengineering.
- CHO synthetic promoters improve expression and product quality of biotherapeutic proteins. Biotechnology Progress. View this article in WRRO
- Production of Trimeric SARS‐CoV‐2 Spike Protein by CHO Cells for Serological COVID‐19 Testing. Biotechnology and Bioengineering.
Chapters
- Protein Therapeutics Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA
- Expression Systems for Recombinant Biopharmaceutical Production by Mammalian Cells in Culture, Methods and Principles in Medicinal Chemistry (pp. 423-467). Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA
Patents
- In silico design of mammalian promoters with user-defined functionality. WO 2018/193072 A1 Appl. 25 Oct 2018.
- Synthetic promoters for CHO cells, methods of producing synthetic promoters using transcription factor binding site modules. WO2015079053-A2; WO2015079053-A3 Appl. 08 Oct 2015.
- 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.
Preprints
- Large-Scale Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis of CHO Cell Functional Adaptation to Recombinant Monoclonal Antibody Production, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Engineering an E. coli -based in vivo mRNA manufacturing platform, Authorea, Inc..
- Protein-specific signal peptides for mammalian vector engineering, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Production of Trimeric SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein by CHO Cells for Serological COVID-19 Testing, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Grants
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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
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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
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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