Professor Iseult Lynch

Winner: 2020 John Jeyes Award

University of Birmingham

For enhanced understanding of the role of biomolecule–nanomaterials interactions and the ecological corona in environmental fate and toxicity of nanomaterials.

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Helping a PhD student submit their first paper is one of my favourite things.
Professor Iseult Lynch

Professor Lynch’s team is researching what happens to nanoparticles – tiny particles added to a wide range of everyday products to make them better (lighter, stronger, brighter, water-repellent, dirt-repellent and more) – in the environment.

Nanomaterials have many unique properties that make them useful for a wide range of applications, the main one being that they are very reactive – this also makes them very dynamic – they are constantly transforming and interacting with their surroundings. Understanding these transformations, which can be physical, chemical, or biological, is vital to making sure that products are safe. Her team uses a range of approaches and considers a range of scales of interaction – from the first contact with biomolecules such as proteins, lipids and dissolved organic matter, which adsorb to the nanomaterials surface, changing their surface properties to how nanoparticles interact with cell and organisms, such as the biofilm and the water flea, Daphnia magna. Despite their tiny size, these creatures occupy an important place in the food web and can tell us a lot about how the environment is faring.

Because many of the key biological processes and pathways are similar across species, this can provide information on how nanoparticles might affect other species, including human health. Her team uses this information to feedback into product design, resulting in safer consumer products and to design alternative testing strategies that reduce the need for testing on animals without compromising environmental or human health and safety.

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Professor Iseult Lynch is Chair (Professor) of Environmental Nanosciences at the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham (UoB). She leads the UoB Institute of Global Innovation & Environmental Pollution Solutions’ cross-cutting team which brings together science, technology, engineering, economics, business and social science to develop strategies for reduction and remediation of legacy and emerging pollutants in water, air and soil. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), and an Associate Editor of the RSC journal Environmental Science: Nano. She was identified by Thomson Reuters as a Highly Cited Researcher (cross-field) in 2018, and has a h-index of 59 with over 22,500 citations.

Professor Lynch has been at the forefront of nanosafety research for close to 15 years, having pioneered the concept of the nanomaterials protein (biomolecule) corona and more recently, the environmental or eco-corona. Her research aims to understand the interface between engineered nanomaterials and the environment (abiotic and biotic components) and how this determines the nanomaterials’ ultimate fate and behaviour in organisms and the environment. In the last few years, she has been exploring the fate and impacts of microscale and nanoscale plastic waste (microplastics).
She obtained her BSc. and PhD in Chemistry from University College Dublin (UCD) and undertook postdoctoral research at the department of Physical Chemistry 1 in Lund University, before returning to UCD to help establish the Centre for BioNano Interactions. She moved to the University of Birmingham in 2013.

Q+A

How did you first become interested in chemistry?

There are two standout moments for me. Firstly, in secondary school when we started learning about polymers and plastics when I suddenly thought ‘okay, chemistry is actually really useful’, and secondly at university when I had my first taste of independent research for my final year undergraduate project. I was developing a fluorescently labelled polymer to mimic protein unfolding and the joy of research and the ability to address real societal questions through manipulation of chemical interactions really grabbed my interest. Most of my research has focused on the interface between synthetic materials and the living world, from proteins to cells and now whole organisms. Being able to understand and control these interactions is the key to ensuring safe materials and developing a host of exciting applications.

What motivates you?

I am one of the lucky ones who gets to work on something that I love and thus it doesn’t feel like work. My favourite parts of being a research professor are the beginning and end of the process. Conceiving the idea and writing the grant, and then some years later seeing how the research has come to fruition. In addition, I am motivated by the excitement of the PhD students and postdoctoral researchers developing their papers to describe the research they have helped to shape and evolve with their energy and insights. Helping a PhD student submit their first paper is one of my favourite things!

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