What is your research field / your key areas of interest?
My research interests lie in the chemistry-biology interface and include the use of controlled polymerization techniques for the engineering of well-defined amphiphilic copolymers and self-assembled nanostructures with precision functionality and biomimetic properties. Moreover, I am interested in the application of such polymer-based materials in drug delivery, biocatalysis, and cell/organelle-mimicry.
Why SCI? How did you first get involved and why would you encourage your peers to join?
I first joined SCI as a student member during the first year of my PhD studies at the University of Warwick. Since then, I have actively got involved with numerous events and activities that SCI organizes every year and I was also the recipient of the Katharine Burr Blodgett Award 2021 and Macro Group UK Jon Weaver PhD Prize 2020. SCI offers limitless opportunities to its members, such as networking through participation in events and conferences, involvement with interest groups across different chemical fields, scholarships and travel bursaries for students and post-doctoral researchers, prizes and awards.
SCI aims to be ‘where science meets business’. What is the potential commercial application of your research?
Similar research to mine has already been commercialized for various industrial and biomedical applications with great success. My current focus is the development of polymeric nanostructures that can be used as therapeutic and diagnostic tools within the pharmaceutical industry in the next few years.
What do you hope to gain from your involvement with SCI?
As an SCI Ambassador, I hope to gain experience in bridging academic research with industrial environments and learning what parameters are key for a formulation to be considered as a viable commercial product, build my networking skills and further strengthen my professional development through the representation of such an important organization.
Spyridon Varlas
University of Sheffield – Department of Chemistry
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