THE RIDDELL GROUP
Research
Proteins have evolved over hundreds of years to perform highly sophisticated tasks ranging from energy production to detoxification of harmful substrates, yet their structural fragility continues to limit their application beyond biological systems. In order to allow the utility of these systems to reach their full potential, it is essential that a strategy for preserving the three-dimensional structure - which represents the key to their efficacy - be developed. Our research is focused on understanding how to achieve this through building non-natural materials capable of encapsulating proteins, and thus stabilising their structure.
It is envisioned that materials capable of encapsulating proteins in their native form will prevent or inhibit their denaturation.
Broadly our research interests span the fields of inorganic chemistry, materials science and biochemistry. Skills and knowledge drawn from each of these disciplines will be combined within our interdisciplinary research program.
News
February 2025
The University of Manchester
Want to know more about the impact of our work in the Riddell group? Check out these recent articles in Technology Networks and Engineering ness.
February 2025
The University of Manchester
Congratulations to Xiangyu for passing his viva, 3 1/2 years all worth it!
Best of luck from everyone in the department.
January 2025
The University of Manchester
Huge congratulations to Jack for publishing his paper on pollutant encapsulation!
About Imogen
Imogen A. Riddell
Royal Society University Research Fellow
Imogen was born and raised in the scottish borders before completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. She then moved to the University of Cambridge where she completed a PhD in the Nitschke group developing novel self-assembling architectures for a variety of applications. Following this she moved to Boston, to work with Professor Stephen Lippard at MIT. She joined the School of Chemistry at the University of Manchester as a Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Fellow in 2017 and in 2018 was appointed as a Royal Society University Research Fellow. Imogen is also on the editorial board of Transition Metal Chemistry.
In her spare time Imogen enjoys running, hillwalking and sharing a meal with friends.
Current Members
Tongtong Zhang
PhD Student 2021
Tongtong finished her undergraduate studies at Nankai University，China, then she moved to Paris and got her MSc degree in molecular chemistry at Sorbonne university. During her master research, she was interested in the encapsulation of metal complexes in a self-assembled, hydrogen-bonded capsule as a biomimetic model of metalloenzyme.
Tongtong’s PhD project aims to encapsulate hydrophobic proteins (such as silicatein) within self-assembling metal-organic materials, in order to facilitate the protein characterization in aqueous environment, and to protect the protein from denaturation.
Tongtong likes cooking Chinese food and doing some yoga before bedtime. She’s also a huge fan of Lionel Messi.
Jack Wright
PhD Student 2022
Jack completed his Masters's degree at the University of Birmingham,
spending his final year in the Hannon Group attempting to modify supramolecular triple helicate structures aiming to inhibit DNA replication.
His PhD topic will be investigating supramolecular structures aimed at selectively sensing specific sequences of peptides.
Jack is from Manchester, he enjoys rock climbing and boardgames.
Lucy McKay
PhD Student 2023
Lucy obtained her MChem from the University of Oxford in 2023, completing her research project under the supervision of Malcolm Stewart on the development of a new organometallic practical to teach air sensitive techniques to third year undergraduates.
Her PhD will focus on the design and synthesis of metal-organic cages for use as imaging labels in cryo-EM.
Lucy is from East London, in her free time she enjoys going to the gym, reading crime and thriller novels, and wearing what has been described as an unreasonable amount of leopard-print clothing.
Alex Jones
PhD Student 2024
Alex obtained his MChem from the University of Lancaster in 2020, completing a research project on Heteronuclear complexes of ruthenium as selective DNA probes under the supervision of Nick Fletcher.
Between undergraduate studies and PhD, Alex worked in bioethanol fermentation, forensic science services, and biocides.
His PhD will focus on Unsymmetric metal-organic cages with unsaturated metal sites created for catalysis.
Alex is from Norfolk, in his free time he enjoys going to stand-up comedy shows, reading sci-fi & fantasy novels, and, apparently building websites.
Harriet Simmonds
PDRA 2024
Harriet completed her MChem at the University of Manchester researching luminescent transition metal probes for the detection of uranium. She enjoyed her time in Manchester so much that she stayed to obtain her PhD. Harriet’s PhD research involved investigating the structure and reactivity of organouranium complexes with cyclopentadienyl-type ligands.
Excited to explore the world of metal-organic cages, Harriet has now joined the Riddell group as a PDRA.
Harriet is from North Somerset, in her spare time she enjoys long walks on the beach (or the Peak District), watching Netflix, and eating sushi.
Publications
Encapsulation of hydrophobic pollutants within a large water-soluble [Fe L ] cage
4 6
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Cell Reports Physical Science, Volume 0, Issue 0, 102404
Amino Functionality Enables Aqueous Synthesis of Carboxylic Acid-Based MOFs at Room Temperature by Biomimetic Crystallization
Inorg. Chem. 2024, 63, 21, 9801–9808
Chemistry - A European Journal 2023
Synthesis and characterisation of an integratively self-sorted [Fe4L6] 8+ tetrahedron
Chem. Commun. 2022
Review:
Design of Ianthanide based methal-organic polyhedral cages for application in catalysis, sensing, separation and magnetism
Coord. Chem. Rev. 2022
Book Chapter:
Stabilising Reactive Intermediates in Cages
Chapter 4 - Reactivity in Confined Spaces, 2021
Self-assembly of a trigonal bipyramidal architecture with stabilisation of iron in three spin states
Chem. Commun. 2021
Self‐Assembly of Functional Discrete Three‐Dimensional Architectures in Water
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018
Opportunities
Opportunities
Want to join the Riddell group?
There are currently no vacancies for studentships or post-doctoral positions within the Riddell group.
Applications from self-funded or sponsored PhD students or PDRAs interested in applying for Fellowships are welcome.
Thanks for your interest in our research. Get in touch with us for any questions or comments regarding our work and publications. We’d love to hear from you.
Email:
Address:
School of Chemistry The University of Manchester,
Oxford Road, M13 9PL
Phone:
0161 3064516
