Almac Sciences and UCD Announce PhD Scholarship

Academic/industry collaboration to further enhance flow chemistry expertise

Craigavon, Northern Ireland –   5 October 2021 – Almac Sciences, a member of the Almac Group, has has announced expanding collaborations with University College Dublin (UCD) for flow based-oxidation approaches through a co-funded PhD scholarship.

Almac Sciences and Dr Marcus Baumann have an already well-established partnership through a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Industry Fellowship on the Continuous Biocatalysed Chemicals (CATCH) project which was publicised in 2020. Together the team has published six peer-reviewed papers focusing on the development of continuous flow approaches to demonstrate the synergies between technology platforms, such as flow chemistry and biocatalysis. Highlights include development of Curtius rearrangements under flow and demonstration of the synergies attainable with biocatalysis with a novel enzyme mediated purification strategy.

The new PhD scholarship is co-funded by Almac Sciences and the SFI Research Centre for Pharmaceuticals (SSPC) over the next 4 years and will investigate flow-based oxidation processes. This year’s student, Niamh Disney, will undertake industry placements within Almac, offering an immersive experience on which she will build key transferable skills and gain insight into critical decision-making for flow processes on an industrial scale.

Lead academic at UCD, Dr Marcus Baumann said “I am very excited to continue to work with Almac Sciences and publish further as we investigate novel oxidative approaches under continuous flow. It affords further extension of my research portfolio in industrially relevant fields.”

This latest development demonstrates further Almac’s commitment to technology innovation as it continues to expand service offerings for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, life sciences and fine chemical sectors following a £325,000 investment, specifically in flow capabilities.

Dr Megan Smyth, Technical Leader, Almac Sciences commented: “This PhD further intensifies our collaboration with the Baumann group at UCD and we look forward to working with Marcus and Niamh. Through close collaboration, and time with us at our state-of-the-art facilities, Niamh will gain a valuable insight into industrially relevant target transformations and I wish her every success with her studies.”

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