Email: connor.wells.18@ucl.ac.uk

Biography

Connor completed his MSci in Chemistry (Hons) with European Placement in 2018, achieving an upper second-class degree from the University of Glasgow. During his degree, he spent 9 months in France, at the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of Materials Strasbourg (IPCMS, University of Strasbourg). Whilst there, he developed mesoporous silica-coated carbon nanotubes for use as theranostic agents in cancer therapy. His final year project at Glasgow investigated the cell internalisation of zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks for drug delivery. He spent the summer after graduation working as a research assistant at the University of Glasgow.

Research

Connor is a member of the CDT in the Advanced Characterisation of Materials, co-supervised by Dr Gemma-Louise Davies (UCL) and Dr James Wilton-Ely (ICL). Connor’s research will involve an investigation of the impact of nanostructure and chelate design on the behaviour of novel MRI contrast agents.

Papers

Z. Zhang, C. J. R. Wells, G.-L. Davies*, G.R. Williams,* “The effect of formulation morphology on stimuli-triggered co-delivery of chemotherapeutic and MRI contrast agents”, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2021, 609, 121155. DOI: /doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.121155.

Z. Zhang, C.J.R. Wells, A.M. King, J.C. Bear, G.-L. Davies, G.R. Williams, “pH-responsive nanocomposite fibres allowing MRI monitoring of drug release”, Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 2020, 8, 7264-7274. DOI

Funding

Connor’s research project is sponsored by the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Characterisation of Materials.