Dr Thomas McDonald PhD

Personal Statement

Tom graduated with a BSc and MSc from School of Materials in Manchester in 2005, before obtaining a PhD in 2008. His research focussed on the design and synthesis of enzyme responsive hydrogels for drug delivery, under the supervision of Prof. Rein Ulijn and Prof. Brian Saunders at the University of Manchester. He then worked from Unilever as a research scientist investigating the delivery of home and personal-care actives, before joining the University of Liverpool as a postdoctoral research associate working in Prof. Steve Rannard's group, where he developed drug nanoparticles for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. Tom went on to work in the group of Prof. Andy Cooper in 2012, undertaking research investigating the high throughput synthesis and characterisation of microporous polymers. In November 2013, he was appointed as a Lecturer, Senior Lecturer in December 2018 and Reader in 2021. His current research interests include the synthesis of nanomaterials for drug delivery, the design of responsive hydrogels for biomedical applications and understanding the chemical changes that occur in plastics upon recycling.