Professor Steven Bottle

Biography

Research theme: Health, Environment
Research discipline: Chemistry
Research program: Medical & Forensic Chemistry
Research areas

• Detecting Free Radicals and Reactive Oxygen Species Using Fluorescence.


• The use of novel antioxidants to limit oxidative stress in Friedrich's Ataxia and Ataxia Telangiectasia.


• Detecting cellular oxidative stress using Flow Cytometry and Confocal Microscopy.


• Design and synthesis of new profluorescent additives for materials protection and lifetime prediction.

The group has developed world-leading expertise in the synthesis and application of nitroxide free radicals which has led to the preparation of novel antioxidant molecules of therapeutic value. These drug candidates have application in diseases such as Ataxia Telangiectasia and Friedrich's Ataxia as well as hypertension, inflammation and heart disease. The group has also developed considerable expertise in the use of fluorescence to detect levels of oxidative stress in biological systems, as well as monitor the degradation of materials through environmental exposure. Of particular interest has been the important discovery that fluorescence can be used to monitor free radical degradation in polymers and thereby predict a material's end of application lifetime. During 2007 the Bottle group began a collaboration with scientists and engineers from the Department of Defense to develop smart materials with application in the aeronautical industry, particularly the Joint Strike Fighter program.