Robert Falconer

Professor Robert Falconer

Professor of Bioprocess Engineering

School of Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

Bio-pharmaceutical Engineering

Recent developments in RNA therapeutics and vaccines have created a range of challenges that need to overcome so we can fully benefit from this emerging technology. RNA therapeutics are arguably capable of radically changing treatment of a range of medical conditions by regulating the synthesis of proteins associated with disease states. The current generation of lipid nanoparticles used to deliver RNA are far from ideal being untargeted and relatively unstable presenting an interesting challenge.

Potential postgraduate projects could include studying:

  • self-assembly of different lipid nanoparticle (LNP) structures
  • the physical and chemical stability of RNA, LNPs and RNA-LNPs
  • the application of Quality by Design principles to in-vitro transcription of RNA, LNP formulation and RNA-LNP stability

 

Therapeutic Protein Formulation

I have published extensively on the subject of liquid formulation of a range of proteins. We aim to build a better understanding of the interactions between proteins, their cosolutes (excipients) and water to make formulation more predictable and remove some of the unknowns from this commercially important operation.

Potential postgraduate projects could include studying:

  • how simple molecules like the sugars and sugar alcohols alter protein solubility and thermal stability
  • how amino acids like arginine, histidine and proline protect protein structures
  • the role of water in determining protein solubility and thermal stability

 

Plant Proteins

The current reliance on animal protein comes with a considerable environmental cost. Plants are an eco-friendly source of protein which are underutilised as a protein source. There is scope for process development to enrich plant proteins and convert them to a form that produces delicious and nutritious foods to dislodge beef, lamb, pork, chicken and fish from the western diet. The protein enrichment processes will need to be effective, economically sound, ecologically benign, scale-able and produce a quality desirable product, which presents an interesting engineering challenge.

Grain (including cereals and pulses) contain anti-nutritional compounds including phytate, trypsin inhibitors and the polyphenolics. These molecules interfere with nutrition, and can reduce growth rates in domestic animals and mineral uptake in humans. We are interested in different approaches to digest or extract the anti-nutritional compounds and improve the quality of the food. 

Many plants are excellent sources of protein but also contain undesirable flavour compounds that can give the protein extracts an unpleasant taste. In the case of Faba beans, some of the flavour compounds are due to oxidation of lipid or lipid-like compounds which can be enzymatically catalysed. This presents an interesting challenge to solve.

Potential postgraduate projects could include:

  • designing protein enrichment processes that is effective while meeting the economic and environmental constraints
  • studying reduction of anti-nutritional compounds from plant proteins using extraction or enzymatic digestion
  • designing a strategy for reducing undesirable flavour compounds that is compatible with plant protein enrichment

 

  • Journals
    Year Citation
    2025 Wright, L., Francis, J. A., Curtis, R., & Falconer, R. J. (2025). Dynamic Light Scattering Analysis of Lipid Nanoparticles: Effect of Salts on the Diffusion Interaction Parameter and Hydrodynamic Radius at Infinite Dilution.. Anal Chem, 97(4), 2437-2442.
    DOI
    2025 Francis, J. A., Wright, L., van Wegen, R., Zhao, C. -X., & Falconer, R. J. (2025). Effects of salts, buffers and sucrose on protein-protein attractive and repulsive interactions.. International journal of pharmaceutics, 672, 125321.
    DOI
    2025 Akintayo, O. A., Falconer, R. J., Lauer, J. C., Cowley, J. M., & Bozkurt, H. (2025). The effect of gelatinisation and enzymatic hydrolysis methods on the starch, sugar and physicochemical profiles of faba bean milk.. Int J Biol Macromol, 304(Pt 2), 140898.
    DOI
    2025 Boutros, J., Li, Z., Wright, L., & Falconer, R. J. (2025). Formation of RNA lipid nanoparticles: An equilibrium process with a liquid intermediate stage. Soft Matter, 6 pages.
    DOI
    2024 Toronjo-Urquiza, L., Besford, Q. A., & Falconer, R. J. (2024). Interactions between small organic molecules and water measured using pressure perturbation calorimetry. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 149(17), 9223-9231.
    DOI Scopus2
    2024 Capilli, M. J. A., Oerlemans, S., Wright, L., & Falconer, R. (2024). Complexity associated with caprylate binding to bovine serum albumin: Dimerization, allostery, and variance between the change in free energy and enthalpy of binding. Protein Science, 32(12), e5224-1-e5224-11.
    DOI
    2023 Flint, K. L., Evans, J. D., Carraro, F., Renner, S., Linder-Patton, O. M., Amenitsch, H., . . . Doonan, C. J. (2023). Protein-induced modifications in crystal morphology of a hydrogen-bonded organic framework. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 11(42), 23026-23033.
    DOI Scopus4
    2022 Xu, L., Wang, X., Liu, Y., Yang, G., Falconer, R. J., & Zhao, C. -X. (2022). Lipid Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery. Advanced NanoBiomed Research, 2(2), 1-17.
    DOI Scopus294 WoS73
    2021 Chandler, P. G., Tan, L. L., Porebski, B. T., Green, J. S., Riley, B. T., Broendum, S. S., . . . Buckle, A. M. (2021). Mutational and biophysical robustness in a pre-stabilized monobody.. The Journal of biological chemistry, 296, 1-10.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS3 Europe PMC4
    2021 Hodges, H. E., Walker, H. J., Cowieson, A. J., Falconer, R. J., & Cameron, D. D. (2021). Latent Anti-nutrients and Unintentional Breeding Consequences in Australian <i>Sorghum bicolor</i> Varieties.. Frontiers in plant science, 12, 1-12.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS7 Europe PMC4
    2021 Falconer, R. J., Schuur, B., & Mittermaier, A. K. (2021). Applications of isothermal titration calorimetry in pure and applied research from 2016 to 2020. Journal of Molecular Recognition, 34(10), 1-17.
    DOI Scopus24 WoS10 Europe PMC10
    2020 Kempapidis, T., Bradshaw, N. J., Hodges, H. E., Cowieson, A. J., Cameron, D. D., & Falconer, R. J. (2020). Phytase catalysis of dephosphorylation studied using isothermal titration calorimetry and electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectroscopy.. Analytical biochemistry, 606, 113859.
    DOI Scopus2 WoS1 Europe PMC1
    2020 Toronjo-Urquiza, L., Acosta-Martin, A. E., James, D. C., Nagy, T., & Falconer, R. J. (2020). Resveratrol addition to CHO cell culture media: The effect on cell growth, monoclonal antibody synthesis and its chemical modification.. Biotechnology progress, 36(3), 1-9.
    DOI Scopus10 WoS7 Europe PMC5
    2020 Toronjo-Urquiza, L., Acosta-Martin, A. E., James, D. C., Nagy, T., & Falconer, R. J. (2020). The use of catechins in Chinese hamster ovary cell media for the improvement of monoclonal antibody yields and a reduction of acidic species.. Biotechnology progress, 36(4), 1-10.
    DOI Scopus13 WoS7 Europe PMC5
    2020 Kempka, R., Falconer, R., Gutsulyak, D., & Lewis, R. (2020). Effects of oxide and water on friction of rail steel–new test method and friction mapping. Tribology - Materials, Surfaces and Interfaces, 15(2), 80-91.
    DOI Scopus5 WoS3
    2019 Watrelot, A. A., Day, M. P., Schulkin, A., Falconer, R. J., Smith, P., Waterhouse, A. L., & Bindon, K. A. (2019). Oxygen exposure during red wine fermentation modifies tannin reactivity with poly-L-proline. Food Chemistry, 297, 124923-1-124923-7.
    DOI Scopus13 WoS10 Europe PMC3
    2019 Toronjo Urquiza, L., James, D. C., Nagy, T., & Falconer, R. J. (2019). Screening Naturally Occurring Phenolic Antioxidants for Their Suitability as Additives to CHO Cell Culture Media Used to Produce Monoclonal Antibodies.. Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland), 8(6), 1-18.
    DOI Scopus15 WoS9 Europe PMC5
    2019 Falconer, R. J. (2019). Advances in liquid formulations of parenteral therapeutic proteins. Biotechnology Advances, 37(7), 9 pages.
    DOI Scopus57 WoS26 Europe PMC32
    2017 Bye, J. W., Freeman, C. L., Howard, J. D., Herz, G., McGregor, J., & Falconer, R. J. (2017). Analysis of Mesoscopic Structured 2-Propanol/Water Mixtures Using Pressure Perturbation Calorimetry and Molecular Dynamic Simulation. Journal of Solution Chemistry, 46(1), 175-189.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS7 Europe PMC1
    2017 Darby, S. J., Platts, L., Daniel, M. S., Cowieson, A. J., & Falconer, R. J. (2017). An isothermal titration calorimetry study of phytate binding to lysozyme. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 127(2), 1201-1208.
    DOI Scopus30 WoS22
    2017 Song, W., Muthana, M., Mukherjee, J., Falconer, R. J., Biggs, C. A., & Zhao, X. (2017). Magnetic-Silk Core–Shell Nanoparticles as Potential Carriers for Targeted Delivery of Curcumin into Human Breast Cancer Cells. ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 3(6), 1027-1038.
    DOI Scopus89 WoS58 Europe PMC36
    2016 Falconer, R. J. (2016). Applications of isothermal titration calorimetry - the research and technical developments from 2011 to 2015. Journal of Molecular Recognition, 29(10), 504-515.
    DOI Scopus80 WoS66 Europe PMC31
    2016 Bye, J. W., Baxter, N. J., Hounslow, A. M., Falconer, R. J., & Williamson, M. P. (2016). Molecular Mechanism for the Hofmeister Effect Derived from NMR and DSC Measurements on Barnase. ACS Omega, 1(4), 669-679.
    DOI Scopus26 WoS19 Europe PMC12
    2016 Platts, L., Darby, S. J., & Falconer, R. J. (2016). Control of Globular Protein Thermal Stability in Aqueous Formulations by the Positively Charged Amino Acid Excipients. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 105(12), 3532-3536.
    DOI Scopus14 WoS9 Europe PMC9
    2016 Raphael, A. P., Crichton, M. L., Falconer, R. J., Meliga, S., Chen, X., Fernando, G. J. P., . . . Kendall, M. A. F. (2016). Formulations for microprojection/microneedle vaccine delivery: Structure, strength and release profiles. Journal of Controlled Release, 225, 40-52.
    DOI Scopus64 WoS57 Europe PMC35
    2016 Kilmister, R. L., Faulkner, P., Downey, M. O., Darby, S. J., & Falconer, R. J. (2016). The complexity of condensed tannin binding to bovine serum albumin - An isothermal titration calorimetry study. Food Chemistry, 190, 173-178.
    DOI Scopus50 WoS39 Europe PMC14
    2016 Png, G. M., Falconer, R. J., & Abbott, D. (2016). Tracking aggregation and fibrillation of globular proteins using terahertz and far-infrared spectroscopies. IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology, 6(1), 45-53.
    DOI Scopus19 WoS18
    2015 Van Sluyter, S. C., McRae, J. M., Falconer, R. J., Smith, P. A., Bacic, A., Waters, E. J., & Marangon, M. (2015). Wine protein haze: Mechanisms of formation and advances in prevention. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 63(16), 4020-4030.
    DOI Scopus152 WoS111 Europe PMC42
    2015 Wallace, V. P., Ferachou, D., Ke, P., Day, K., Uddin, S., Casas-Finet, J., . . . Zeitler, J. A. (2015). Modulation of the Hydration Water Around Monoclonal Antibodies on Addition of Excipients Detected by Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 104(12), 4025-4033.
    DOI Scopus15 WoS11 Europe PMC8
    2015 Bye, J. W., & Falconer, R. J. (2015). A study of the relationship between water and anions of the Hofmeister series using pressure perturbation calorimetry. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 17(21), 14130-14137.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS4 Europe PMC4
    2015 Platts, L., & Falconer, R. J. (2015). Controlling protein stability: Mechanisms revealed using formulations of arginine, glycine and guanidinium HCl with three globular proteins. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 486(1-2), 131-135.
    DOI Scopus60 WoS35 Europe PMC29
    2014 Brown, R. G., & MacIntyre, D. A. (2014). Systematic review: Calcium channel blockers are effective as first line for tocolysis in the management of preterm labour. Evidence-Based Medicine, 19(6), 214.
    DOI Scopus1 Europe PMC1
    2014 Bye, J. W., & Falconer, R. J. (2014). Three stages of lysozyme thermal stabilization by high and medium charge density anions. Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 118(16), 4282-4286.
    DOI Scopus19 WoS17 Europe PMC11
    2014 Bye, J. W., Platts, L., & Falconer, R. J. (2014). Biopharmaceutical liquid formulation: A review of the science of protein stability and solubility in aqueous environments. Biotechnology Letters, 36(5), 869-875.
    DOI Scopus54 WoS35 Europe PMC30
    2014 Bye, J. W., Meliga, S., Ferachou, D., Cinque, G., Zeitler, J. A., & Falconer, R. J. (2014). Analysis of the hydration water around bovine serum albumin using terahertz coherent synchrotron radiation. Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 118(1), 83-88.
    DOI Scopus82 WoS77 Europe PMC40
    2013 Meliga, S. C., Farrugia, W., Ramsland, P. A., & Falconer, R. J. (2013). Cold-induced precipitation of a monoclonal IgM: a negative activation enthalpy reaction. Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 117(2), 490-494.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS6 Europe PMC3
    2013 Bye, J. W., Cowieson, N. P., Cowieson, A. J., Selle, P. H., & Falconer, R. J. (2013). Dual effects of sodium phytate on the structural stability and solubility of proteins. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 61(2), 290-295.
    DOI Scopus41 WoS35 Europe PMC15
    2013 Bye, J. W., & Falconer, R. J. (2013). Thermal stability of lysozyme as a function of ion concentration: A reappraisal of the relationship between the Hofmeister series and protein stability. Protein Science, 22(11), 1563-1570.
    DOI Scopus95 WoS76 Europe PMC46
    2012 Falconer, R. J., & Markelz, A. G. (2012). Terahertz spectroscopic analysis of peptides and proteins. Journal of Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves, 33(10), 973-988.
    DOI Scopus153 WoS130
    2012 Ghai, R., Falconer, R. J., & Collins, B. M. (2012). Applications of isothermal titration calorimetry in pure and applied research - survey of the literature from 2010. Journal of Molecular Recognition, 25(1), 32-52.
    DOI Scopus161 WoS142 Europe PMC83
    2012 Falconer, R. (2012). Terahertz spectroscopy's application to protein chemistry. Spectroscopy Europe, 24(2), 12-14.
    Scopus2
    2012 Ding, T., Middelberg, A., Huber, T., & Falconer, R. (2012). Far-infrared spectroscopy analysis of linear and cyclic peptides, and lysozyme. Vibrational Spectroscopy, 61, 144-150.
    DOI Scopus27 WoS25
    2012 Lim, S., MacIntyre, D. A., Lee, Y. S., Khanjani, S., Terzidou, V., Teoh, T. G., & Bennett, P. R. (2012). Nuclear factor kappa b activation occurs in the amnion prior to labour onset and modulates the expression of numerous labour associated genes. PLoS ONE, 7(4), 12 pages.
    DOI Scopus50 Europe PMC45
    2011 Marangon, M., Van Sluyter, S. C., Neilson, K. A., Chan, C., Haynes, P. A., Waters, E. J., & Falconer, R. J. (2011). Roles of grape thaumatin-like protein and chitinase in white wine haze formation. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 59(2), 733-740.
    DOI Scopus86 WoS67 Europe PMC27
    2011 Falconer, R. J., Jackson-Matthews, D., & Mahler, S. M. (2011). Analytical strategies for assessing comparability of biosimilars. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, 86(7), 915-922.
    DOI Scopus20 WoS18
    2011 Falconer, R. J., Chan, C., Hughes, K., & Munro, T. P. (2011). Stabilization of a monoclonal antibody during purification and formulation by addition of basic amino acid excipients. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, 86(7), 942-948.
    DOI Scopus58 WoS45
    2011 Zakaria, H., Fischer, B., Bradley, A., Jones, I., Abbott, D., Middelberg, A., & Falconer, R. (2011). Low-frequency spectroscopic analysis of monomeric and fibrillar lysozyme. Applied Spectroscopy, 65(3), 260-264.
    DOI Scopus17 WoS15 Europe PMC8
    2011 Ding, T., Huber, T., Middelberg, A., & Falconer, R. (2011). Characterization of low-frequency modes in aqueous peptides using far-infrared spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulation. Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 115(42), 11559-11565.
    DOI Scopus27 WoS25 Europe PMC17
    2011 Falconer, R. J., & Collins, B. M. (2011). Survey of the year 2009: Applications of isothermal titration calorimetry. Journal of Molecular Recognition, 24(1), 1-16.
    DOI Scopus49 WoS45 Europe PMC25
    2010 Falconer, R. J., Marangon, M., Van Sluyter, S. C., Neilson, K. A., Chan, C., & Waters, E. J. (2010). Thermal stability of thaumatin-like protein, chitinase, and invertse isolated from sauvignon blanc and semillon juice and their role in haze formation in wine. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 58(2), 975-980.
    DOI Scopus95 WoS77 Europe PMC39
    2010 Falconer, R. J., Zakaria, H. A., Fan, Y. Y., Bradley, A. P., & Middelberg, A. P. J. (2010). Far-infrared spectroscopy of protein higher-order structures. Applied Spectroscopy, 64(11), 1259-1264.
    DOI Scopus31 WoS30 Europe PMC15
    2010 McRae, J. M., Falconer, R. J., & Kennedy, J. A. (2010). Thermodynamics of grape and wine tannin interaction with polyproline: Implications for red wine astringency. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 58(23), 12510-12518.
    DOI Scopus127 WoS104 Europe PMC57
    2010 Falconer, R. J., Penkova, A., Jelesarov, I., & Collins, B. M. (2010). Survey of the year 2008: Applications of isothermal titration calorimetry. Journal of Molecular Recognition, 23(5), 395-413.
    DOI Scopus63 WoS48 Europe PMC27
    2010 Ding, T., Li, R., Zeitler, J. A., Huber, T. L., Gladden, L. F., Middelberg, A. P. J., & Falconer, R. J. (2010). Terahertz and far infrared Spectroscopy of alanine-rich peptides having variable ellipticity. Optics Express, 18(26), 27431-27444.
    DOI Scopus53 WoS49 Europe PMC23
    2009 Kaar, W., Hartmann, B. M., Fan, Y., Zeng, B., Lua, L. H. L., Dexter, A. F., . . . Middelberg, A. P. J. (2009). Microbial bio-production of a recombinant stimuli-responsive biosurfactant. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 102(1), 176-187.
    DOI Scopus16 WoS16 Europe PMC9
    2009 Hartmann, B. M., Kaar, W., Yoo, I. K., Lua, L. H. L., Falconer, R. J., & Middelberg, A. P. J. (2009). The chromatography-free release, isolation and purification of recombinant peptide for fibril self-assembly. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 104(5), 973-985.
    DOI Scopus15 WoS15 Europe PMC7
    2009 Png, G., Falconer, R., Fischer, B., Zakaria, H., Mickan, S., Middleberg, A., & Abbott, D. (2009). Terahertz spectroscopic differentiation of microstructures in protein gels. Clinical Research in Cardiology, 17(15), 13102-13115.
    DOI Scopus39 WoS30 Europe PMC9
    2008 Hartmann, B. M., Kaar, W., Falconer, R. J., Zeng, B., & Middelberg, A. P. J. (2008). Expression and purification of a nanostructure-forming peptide. Journal of Biotechnology, 135(1), 85-91.
    DOI Scopus18 WoS17 Europe PMC12
    2008 Hanslip, S. J., Zaccai, N. R., Middelberg, A. P. J., & Falconer, R. J. (2008). Intrinsic fluorescence as an analytical probe of virus-like particle assembly and maturation. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 375(3), 351-355.
    DOI Scopus19 WoS13 Europe PMC6
    2007 Mercadé-Prieto, R., Sahoo, P. K., Falconer, R. J., Paterson, W. R., & Ian Wilson, D. (2007). Polyelectrolyte screening effects on the dissolution of whey protein gels at high pH conditions. Food Hydrocolloids, 21(8), 1275-1284.
    DOI Scopus27 WoS27 Europe PMC6
    2007 Mercadé-Prieto, R., Falconer, R. J., Paterson, W. R., & Wilson, D. I. (2007). Swelling and dissolution of β-lactoglobulin gels in alkali. Biomacromolecules, 8(2), 469-476.
    DOI Scopus46 WoS46 Europe PMC13
    2007 Zaccai, N. R., Yunus, K., Matthews, S. M., Fisher, A. C., & Falconer, R. J. (2007). Refolding of a membrane protein in a microfluidics reactor. European Biophysics Journal, 36(6), 581-588.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS5 Europe PMC4
    2006 Falconer, R., Liebich, B., & Hart, A. (2006). Automated color sorting of hand-harvested chardonnay. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, 57(4), 491-496.
    DOI Scopus12 WoS6
    2006 Mercadé-Prieto, R., Falconer, R. J., Paterson, W. R., & Wilson, D. I. (2006). Effect of gel structure on the dissolution of heat-induced β-lactoglobulin gels in alkali. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 54(15), 5437-5444.
    DOI Scopus36 WoS33 Europe PMC8
    2006 Hanslip, S. J., Zaccai, N. R., Middelberg, A. P. J., & Falconer, R. J. (2006). Assembly of human papillomavirus type-16 virus-like particles: Multifactorial study of assembly and competing aggregation. Biotechnology Progress, 22(2), 554-560.
    DOI Scopus36 WoS28 Europe PMC21
    1999 Falconer, R., O'Neill, B., & Middelberg, A. (1999). Chemical treatment of escherichia coli: 3 selective extraction of a recombinant protein from cytoplasmic inclusion bodies in intact cells. Biotechmology and Bioengineering, 62(4), 455-460.
    DOI Scopus27 WoS25 Europe PMC19
    1998 Falconer, R., O'Neill, B., & Middelberg, A. (1998). Chemical Treatment of Escherichia coli. II Direct extraction of recombinant protein from cytoplasmic inclusion bodies in intact cells. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 57(4), 381-386.
    DOI Scopus33 WoS30 Europe PMC14
    1997 Falconer, R., O'Neill, B., & Middelberg, A. (1997). Chemical Treatment of Escherichia coli: 1. Extraction of Intracellular Protein from Uninduced Cells. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 53(5), 453-458.
    DOI Scopus38 WoS37 Europe PMC18
    1997 Wangsa-Wirawan, N. D., Lee, Y. S., Falconer, R. J., Mansell, C. J., O'Neill, B. K., & Middelberg, A. P. J. (1997). Novel fed-batch strategy for the production of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Biotechnology Letters, 19(11), 1079-1082.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS8

  • Conference Papers
    Year Citation
    2019 Chandler, E., Falconer, R., & Brown, S. (2019). Optimisation of Aqueous Two-Phase Systems. In 29th European Symposium on Computer Aided Chemical Engineering Vol. 46 (pp. 283-288). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
    DOI Scopus2
    2018 Kempka, R., Falconer, R., Gutsulyak, D., & Lewis, R. (2018). Effects of oxide and water on friction of rail steel-new test method and friction mapping. In Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Contact Mechanics and Wear of Rail/wheel Systems, CM 2018 (pp. 464-473).
    Scopus1
    2017 Jarrard, D., Chen, Y. -H., Liu, G., Carducci, M., Eisenberger, M., Wong, Y. -N., . . . Sweeney, C. (2017). IMPACT OF METFORMIN ON PROSTATE CANCER PC OUTCOMES IN THE E3805 CHAARTED TRIAL. In JOURNAL OF UROLOGY Vol. 197 (pp. E715). MA, Boston: ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC.
    DOI
    2016 Cook, J., MacIntyre, D., Kim, S. H., Jones, B., Bennett, P., & Terzidou, V. (2016). Hsa-miR-146b-3p is functionally modulated by nuclear factor-κB in human myometrial cells. In BJOG-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY Vol. 123 (pp. 102). WILEY-BLACKWELL.
    2013 Ding, T., Middelberg, A., Bye, J., & Falconer, R. (2013). Can Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy detect an extended hydration layer around peptides?. In International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves, IRMMW-THz (pp. 1-2). Online: IEEE.
    DOI
    2013 Ding, T., Middelberg, A., & Falconer, R. (2013). Secondary structure evident in the far infrared spectra of peptides. In International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves, IRMMW-THz (pp. 1-2). Online: IEEE.
    DOI
    2009 Li, R., Ding, T., Huber, T., Falconer, R. J., Middelberg, A. P. J., Gladden, L. F., & Zeitler, J. A. (2009). Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy of peptides in solution. In 34th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves, IRMMW-THz 2009 (pp. 544-+). Busan, SOUTH KOREA: IEEE.
    DOI
    2006 Mercadé-Prieto, R., Falconer, R. J., Paterson, W. R., & Wilson, D. I. (2006). Probing the mechanisms limiting dissolution of whey protein gels during cleaning. In Food and Bioproducts Processing Vol. 84 (pp. 311-319). Jesus Coll, Cambridge, ENGLAND: ELSEVIER.
    DOI Scopus18 WoS15

CRCP "mRNA manufacturing and formulation service for late stage clinical trials" [Bridgewest Australia Biotech Pty Ltd, The University of Adelaide, Global Life Sciences Solutions Australia Pty Ltd]. Grant amount $3,000,000.

MRFF, “Developing enabling technologies for manufacture of precision mRNA vaccines” [The University of Adelaide, Biocina Pty Ltd, Cytiva]. Grant amount $5,000,000.

I teach Bioprocess Engineering. The material covers the unit operations associated with the manufacture of therapeutic proteins, diagnostics and vaccines. The latest development in regulatory compliance, Quality by Design, PAT and continuous manufacturing are covered.

 

Current teaching

BIOPRENG 4036 Ensuring Quality Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

BIOPRENG 7061 Quality by Design & Process Analytical Technology

BIOPRENG 7063 Good Manufacturing Practice & Validation

BIOPRENG 7066 Advanced Technology in Biopharmaceutical Processing

BIOTECH 7050 Protein Purification (guest lecturer)

 

Primary PhD student supervision 

Simon Hanslip (papillomavirus virus-like particle self assembly) graduated 2006.

Jordan Bye (thermodynamics of protein stability) graduated 2015.  

Samuel Darby (heterotropic multisite binding to proteins) graduated 2017. 

Lauren Platts (protein stabilisation by small organic molecules) graduated 2017. 

Kimberly Hansford (protein instability during expression) graduated 2019. 

Luis Toronjo Urquiza (difficult to express proteins) graduated 2019. 

Theofilus Kempapidis (phytate-protein interactions) graduated 2019. 

Niall Bradshaw (phosphate recovery) graduated 2020. 

Emilio Pliego Garcia (brewing, beer-omics) graduated 2020. 

Hayden Hodges (tannin-protein interactions) graduated 2021. 

Jaslene Francis (lipid nanoparticle formulation) started 2022.

Ziyue Li (RNA-lipid-nanoparticle self-assembly) started 2023.

Franz Wagner Laurett Veras (improving RNA-lipid nanoparticle stability) started 2023.

Jessica Boutros (RNA-lipid nanoparticle self-assembly) started 2024.

Sofie Oerlemans (lipid nanoparticle formulation) started 2024.

Chandranil Gharekhan (mRNA in-vitro transcription in microfluidic devices) started 2024.

 

 

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2024 Principal Supervisor Physical Stability and Solubility of mRNA Lipid Nanoparticles for use in Vaccines and Therapeutic Products - The Role of Organic Excipients Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Sophie Kate Oerlemans
    2024 Principal Supervisor Disentangling the Complexity of mRNA Lipid Nanoparticle (mRNA-LNP) Assembly in Microfluidic Reactors Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Jessica Boutros
    2024 Principal Supervisor In-vitro mRNA Transcription in Microfluidic Channels for use in RNA Therapeutics and Vaccines Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Chandranil Hridaynath Gharekhan
    2023 Principal Supervisor Building Stability into RNA Lipid Nanoparticle Therapeutics and Vaccines Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Ziyue Li
    2023 Principal Supervisor Investigation into the physical stability of the lipid nanoparticle (LNP) used for RNA delivery Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Franz Wagner Laurett Veras
    2023 Co-Supervisor Next generation biomanufacturing: Yeast based continuous production of low-cost single domain antibodies Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Yannis Hendrik Karavias
    2022 Principal Supervisor Design of Ready-to-Inject Aqueous Formulations of RNA-Lipid Nanoparticles Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Jaslene Anne Francis
    2021 Co-Supervisor Effects of Extraction and Starch Modification on Nutrient Composition and Physicochemical Properties of Faba bean-based Dairy Alternatives Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Olaide Akinwunmi Akintayo
  • Position: Professor of Bioprocess Engineering
  • Phone: 83134179
  • Email: robert.falconer@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Engineering North, floor 1
  • Org Unit: Bioprocess Engineering
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