Dr James Nicholson
Laboratory Manager
Biography
I am a Laboratory Manager in the Faculty of Science, Business & Enterprise at the University of Chester. My areas of expertise are Physics, Biophysics, Chemistry & Engineering. In my current role I supervise a team of technical staff that support the delivery of the both the undergraduate teaching programmes and postgraduate research in physical sciences and engineering. As a team, we established the new laboratories and workshops at Thornton in 2014-15 and relocated them to Exton Park in 2021-22. In addition I manage laboratory and workshop equipment across two buildings and schools, and take a leading role in health and safety, chairing the Faculty H&S Committee. I am the Radiation Protection Supervisor and Laser Safety Officer for the Faculty. I completed a BSc in Applied Physics and PhD in Structural Biology at Liverpool John Moores University. My PhD project involved solving the structure and function of biological macromolecules using X-ray crystallography, including insulin and the histone octamer which packages and remodels DNA in the cell. My career to date has largely been based at the UK Synchrotron Radiation Sources at STFC Daresbury Laboratory and Diamond Light Source at Harwell in Oxfordshire. In these roles I was responsible for managing research facilities for Macromolecular Crystallography and Biomedical Infrared Spectroscopy & Imaging, as well as undertaking my own research projects. I have also worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Keele University and Laboratory Manager at the Cancer Research UK Centre of the University of Liverpool.
Teaching and Supervision
I support teaching across the Physics, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Electrcial Engineering programmes.
Research and Knowledge Exchange
My research is focussed at the interface between Physics, Biology and Medicine, and includes Structure & Function of Macromolecules, Biomedical FTIR Spectroscopy & Imaging and Synchrotron Radiation techniques development. Google Scholar Profile