The Continuum team consists of researchers from the Institute of Chemical Sciences at Heriot-Watt University and marries experience in continuous flow chemistry with expertise in diverse areas of synthetic chemistry, include polymer chemistry, photoredox catalysis, NMR spectroscopy and organic synthetic methodology and medicinal chemistry.
People
Filipe Vilela
Dr Filipe Vilela, under the supervision of Professor David C. Sherrington FRS, completed in 2008 his PhD in the field of polymer chemistry at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. Since then, Filipe has worked in organic electronics (Strathclyde), and in heterogeneous photocatalysis as a Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam, Germany. Filipe is currently an Assistant Professor at Heriot-Watt University with research interests centred on developing photoactive polymers for photocatalytic applications under continuous flow conditions. Filipe has also driven the establishment of the Continuum Flow Lab at Heriot-Watt University, which amongst many other things focuses on expanding the toolkit for automated flow synthesis, including bespoke reaction monitoring and purification technologies.
Dave Ellis
Dr Dave Ellis studied chemistry at the University of Exeter and graduated with a PhD (supervised by Professor Eddie Abel and Dr Keith Orrell) in 1991. He carried out postdoctoral work at various Universities across the UK before joining Heriot-Watt in 2000 as a research assistant to Professor Alan Welch. In 2010 he became a permanent member of staff, acting as facilities manager for NMR spectroscopy and then Assistant Professor (Lecturer) in chemistry in 2022. In the same year he was appointed Programme Leader for a new MSc in Analytical Science for the Biosciences Industries. Dave has research interests in various aspects of NMR spectroscopy including complex mixture analysis, reaction monitoring and the applications of solid-state NMR to the understanding of molecular dynamics.
Graeme Barker
Dr Graeme Barker was appointed as an assistant professor in the Institute of Chemical Sciences at Heriot-Watt University in 2016. His background is in synthetic organic methodology using group 1 & 2 organometallic complexes, as well as gold(I) catalysis and medicinal chemistry. His current research is focused on the use of organolithium and organozinc complexes for the Csp3-H functionalisation of common small molecule drug motifs, as well as medicinal chemistry for therapeutic intervention in cell signalling cascades. Alongside social scientist colleagues, he also maintains an active interest in understanding the needs of underrepresented groups in STEM and technological solutions to barriers experienced by disabled chemical scientists. His work has been funded by the EPSRC, British Heart Foundation, Scottish Enterprise, Carnegie Trust and Royal Society of Chemistry.