Peak Proteins Welcomes Dr Ravneet Mandair
Peak Proteins welcomes Dr Ravneet Mandair who joins us as a Protein Purification Specialist.
Rav studied for a BSc at Aston University in Birmingham UK in microbiology and immunology. Modules on her course included food microbiology, applied molecular biology and clinical and infectious microbiology and toxicology. During her undergraduate studies, Rav joined the University of Vienna for a study placement.
Continuing her studies at Aston University, Rav carried out research for a PhD in Biotechnology. Her thesis title was “Cell-free enzymatic biosystem for the conversion of glucose to malate”. The aim of the project was to design an artificial enzymatic cascade to convert glucose derived from waste products into malic acid. Malic acid is a platform chemical in high global demand, alongside other four carbon diacids. Fossil fuels are a finite source and their limited supply demands the development of renewable alternatives to petrochemically-derived products. She designed and produced a cofactor balanced five enzyme cascade that enabled the sustainable production of malic acid from glucose in a single reaction. Rav’s work contributed to a key publication in Biotechnology for Biofuels “Karagoz P, Mandair R, Manayil JC, Lad J, Chong K, Kyriakou G, Lee AF, Wilson K, Bill RM. Purification and immobilization of engineered glucose dehydrogenase: a new approach to producing gluconic acid from breadwaste.” [link to open access paper]
The research project was sponsored by Chemoxy International (now part of the Seqens Group) where Rav spent a 3-month industrial placement during her PhD.
Following the completion of her PhD, Rav remained at Aston University as a Postdoctoral Research Assistant, expressing and purifying various membrane proteins with Professor Roslyn Bill. Her work particularly focused on utilising novel polymers derived from styrene maleic acid (SMALPs) for the detergent-free extraction of embedded proteins from the membrane and stabilisation in solution. While at Peak Proteins, Rav will be working closely with Dr Steven Harborne with the aim of putting her expertise in membrane protein purification to work!
Steve commented: “We’re excited to have Rav on board, particularly as we expand our ability to tackle challenging membrane protein projects for clients. Having prior experience purifying membrane proteins is going to be a big bonus for us”
Rav added, “After many experimental meltdowns as expected in the life of an early PhD student, I eventually realised I could get on with protein science after all. This was further cemented with my short postdoc stint with membrane proteins. I’m looking forward to working with Steve and all the other experts in Peak Proteins and continuing my journey as a protein scientist”.
