Richard Kelwick

Over three years of independent research experience, primarily in cell and molecular biology. Trained to a high professional standard with a track record of continual professional and personal development. Enhanced my working knowledge of Synthetic Biology techniques and their underpinning engineering principles as part of my roles as a founder and scientific advisor to two successful iGEM teams. Collaborative research experience at local (university research groups), national (QMUL and University of Oxford) and international level (iGEM community and Technischen Universität München). Known for my innovative uses of industry connections, outreach activities, technology and social media to enhance the overall societal and/or economic impact of the projects I successfully complete.

Career Achievements:

Research and Teaching:
• Founder, scientific advisor and project manager of two successful iGEM teams. iGEM is the world's largest synthetic biology competition. Achieved a gold medal award at the European Jamboree in 2012.
• Co-author of successful grants totalling £40,000+
• Awarded a best poster prize at a BSMB scientific conference in 2010.
• 500+ hours of teaching experience.

Entrepreneurship:
• Founder and President of the Enterprise and Engagement Club at the University of East Anglia. Hosted nine organisations including Horizon Discovery, Nature Publishing Group, iTeams and ZERI.
• National or regional finalist of 4 business competitions. Biotechnology YES (2010), Flux (2008), Regional Enterprise Awards (2007) and Business Creation Competition (2007).

Open to Synthetic Biology opportunities from Industry or Academia.

Specialties: Synthetic Biology, Cancer Research, Molecular Medicine, Enterprise, Entrepreneurship and Inclusive Learning and Teaching.

1. Synthetic Biology
2. Molecular Biology
3. Project Management
4. Cancer Research
5. Brand Concept and Marketing
6. Scientific Background
7. Grant Writing
8. Teaching Experience
9. Science Communication
10. Social Media
11. Social Networking
12. Blogging
13. Web Design
14. Educational Research
15. Business Planning
16. Pay Close Attention to Detail
17. Strategic Leadership
18. Team Building
19. Management
20. Information filtering
21. Global Perspective
22. Lifesciences
23. Genomics
24. Protein Expression
25. Biochemistry
26. Cell Culture
27. Cell Biology
28. Bioinformatics
29. Western Blotting
30. Genetics

View All (30) Skills View Fewer Skills

• Volunteer Experience

  • Friend of Big C

    Big C

    • Health
    October 2009 – present (3 years 8 months)

    
    Big C, Norfolk and Waveney's own cancer charity. Supports patients, their families, hospital equipment, care and research.
    
    I have given cancer lab tours and participated in Q&A sessions to provide an insight into cancer research for BigC friends and supporters.
    
    http://www.big-c.co.uk/
    

• Volunteer Interests

  • Causes I care about:

    • Education
    • Health
    • Science and Technology

  • Organizations I support:

    • BigC
    • Cancer Research UK

• PhD Project: Degradomic Analysis of ADAMTS15 in Breast Cancer

  • October 2009 to Present
  Team Members: Richard Kelwick, Dylan Edwards

  ADAMTS15 is a member of the ADAMTS (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin type I motif) family that has been identified as a candidate cancer gene from genome sequencing studies and has a potential tumour suppressor function in breast and colorectal cancers. We have studied the effects of expression of ADAMTS15 and a metalloproteinase-inactive (E-A) mutant form on the behaviour of mammary cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7) in vitro. The effects of ADAMTS15 on mammary cancer cell proliferation, apoptosis, signaling, adhesion, migration and invasion have been examined. Expression of ADAMTS15 reduced the migration of breast cancer cells independent of its metalloproteinase activity, and was associated with altered integrin profiles, in particular integrin β4. Migration was reduced on fibronectin and laminin matrices, but not on type I collagen. Our data suggest that ADAMTS15 may influence cancer cell behaviour by modulating cell-ECM interactions.

• NRP-UEA-Norwich iGEM Project

  • January 2012 to January 2013
  Team Members: Richard Kelwick, Richard Bowater, Khadija Ouadi, pascoe harvey

  iGEM is the worlds largest Synthetic Biology competition and is organised by iGEM HQ a spin out from MIT, USA.
  
  We were awarded a gold medal for our project at the European jamboree in Amsterdam.
  
  NRP-UEA-Norwich is the second iGEM team to emerge from the Norwich Research Park (NRP) and we have succeeded in producing four functional biosensors that have the potential to detect Nitric Oxide. Our team has also collaborated with an artist, Amy Congdon to develop a concept company and technology termed Quanticare and Cura, respectively.
  
  Cura is Quanticare’s revolutionary healthcare solution, a tattoo made of immortalised mammalian cells containing different bio sensors that have been specifically tailored to monitor and respond to changes in the body. Different areas of the tattoo correspond to different areas of the body. Utilising comparator circuit technology developed by the NRP-UEA-Norwich iGEM Team, Cura can detect unwanted changes in health, respond to those changes and alert the user by fluorescing.
  
  http://www.quanticare.co.uk

• UEA-JIC Norwich iGEM Project

  • January 2011 to December 2011
  Team Members: Richard Kelwick, Richard Bowater, Ben Jevans

  Project Title: The evolution of Synthetic Biology; The introduction of new photosynthetic eukaryotes as model organisms.
  
  There are challenges with using plants in iGEM, namely their growth time and the complexity
  associated with adapting Synthetic Biology approaches for plants. However, plants are a
  major focus of synthetic biology due to their potential use in an array of applications from
  food security to the synthesis of biofuels. The relatively short time scale of the iGEM
  competition, has often meant that plant based projects are challenging and there have been
  very few in previous iGEM competitions. As the first iGEM team at UEA and in co-operation
  with the JIC we felt that we could make a significant contribution to plant based Synthetic
  Biology.
  
  Project Milestones:
  -Established the first UEA-JIC iGEM Team on the Norwich Research Park
  -10 weeks of research at the JIC, hosted by Dr Paul O’ Maille.
  -Research at UEA, hosted by Prof. Dylan Edwards, Dr. Richard Bowater and myself at the
  School of Biological Sciences.
  -Presentations at an array of scientific seminar series at UEA and the JIC; helping to foster collaborations and excitement for synthetic biology.
  -Hosted the UK iGEM Team Meetup, where six UK iGEM teams presented their projects, alongside international leaders in synthetic biology. See: http://youtu.be/CCJot4yiIxs for a video.
  -Public communication and awareness of Synthetic Biology. Our iGEM team was featured in the
  regional newspaper, EDP. http://tinyurl.com/igem-edp
  -Presented at the iGEM regional Jamboree, Amsterdam 1st-2nd October, 2011.

• The Inclusive Learning and Teaching Project

  • November 2007 to July 2010
  Team Members: Richard Kelwick, Professor Elena Rodríguez Falcon, Marie Evans, John Barrett,

  Vision: To create a University of Sheffield learning culture which enables all our students, from whatever background, to achieve their full potential.
  
  
  Project Outputs:
  -A handbook of best practice for the use of all teaching staff
  -Eleven department-based case studies
  -A website, to support staff and students in assessing the effectiveness of the inclusive learning and teaching environment in the university
  -A series of ‘lessons learnt’ from the development of the project formulated as ‘Hints and Tips' for an Inclusive Educational Environment
  -A contribution to the development of a Students’ Charter now known as 'Our Commitment'
  -A video. We invited students to a session in and asked them to tell us things that were barriers to their inclusion in learning. They identified some key areas for action which you can see in the video.

• The roles of ADAMTS metalloproteinases in tumorigenesis and metastasis.

  • Frontiers in Bioscience
  • January 1, 2011
  Authors: Richard Kelwick, Laura Wagstaff, Julie Decock, Dylan Edwards

  The human ADAMTS (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin-like motifs) family of 19 secreted, multidomain proteolytic enzymes is involved in a wide range of biological processes including ECM assembly and degradation, hemostasis, organogenesis and the regulation of angiogenesis. Defects in certain family members give rise to inherited human genetic diseases, while aberrant expression of other ADAMTSs has been linked to the pathogenesis of arthritis and cancer. Several ADAMTSs act as tumor or metastasis suppressors whose functions are lost either by mutation or epigenetic silencing during tumor progression. This review looks in depth at the involvement of ADAMTSs as positive and negative mediators in cancer growth and spread.

Websites:

• Enterprise and Engagement Club
• Google+
• NRP UEA iGEM Wiki