Professor Mark Smales

About

Mark Smales is currently Professor of Biotechnology at the University of Kent, UK and a Principal Investigator at the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) in Dublin, Ireland where he holds a Research Ireland Joint Research Professorship Award. His research interests cover upstream and host cell gene expression flux during bioprocessing including reverse cell and engineering biology approaches to modulate gene expression, systems/synthetic biology, and the identification of target genes/proteins for manipulation (or markers for screening purposes) in order to enhance therapeutic protein production, gene and cell therapies from in vitro cultured mammalian cells, and design and manufacture of RNAs as therapeutics. He also works in the area of analytical sciences for the measurement and monitoring of critical product and process attributes and across diagnostics development. As part of the Elemental hub project, his group will be using engineering biology approaches to control metal flux in mammalian cell production factories to tune cellular processes that underpin product yields and quality, reduce the amount of trace metals required for large bioprocesses, and to support recovery of metals from bioprocesses. 

Key areas of expertise: 

• Bioengineering of mammalian cell expression systems 

• Biotherapeutic proteins, gene and mRNA-based therapies 

• mRNA translation and its control 

• Diagnostics development 

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