Nick Brooks

Dr Nick Brooks is a Reader in the Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London.

My group's research focuses on the effect of high pressure on the structure and micromechanics of biological membranes, and dynamic structural changes in membrane based systems. Coupled to these research aims, we have a strong interest in advanced instrumentation and technique development.

I am a leading member of the Membrane Biophysics Platform which is working at the forefront of the emerging field of molecular membrane engineering to design and construct new biologically-inspired materials and devices. We aim to revolutionise the design and fabrication of smart, soft materials and catalyse a paradigm shift in areas such as nanomedicine, bioelectronics, biological computing devices and synthetic organelles.

Much of our work is underpinned by development of new instrumentation (particularly high pressure platforms) to access experiments that were not previously possible. We have developed world-class systems for high pressure and pressure-jump microscopy and this has led to collaborations across the UK, Europe and USA. Having established an internationally leading pressure-jump facility for small angle X-ray diffraction at Diamond Light Source, we have been involved in the development of further related facilities at both Diamond and ESRF as well as a range of synchrotron based sample environments for probing structural changes in soft materials in response to triggers including solvent environment and electric field.

I have a strong interest in teaching and teaching innovation, particularly in the development of resources that encourage and enable students to explore topics themselves from a variety of perspectives. As Head of Physical Chemistry Teaching, I am a member of the Department of Chemistry teaching leadership team and am committed to encouraging spread of best teaching practice.

Publications

Journals

• Paez Perez M, Dent MR, Brooks N, et al., 2023, Directly imaging emergence of phase separation in peroxidized lipid membranes, Communications Chemistry, ISSN:2399-3669
• Strutt R, Sheffield F, Barlow N, et al., 2022, UV-DIB: label-free permeability determination using droplet interface bilayers, Lab on a Chip: Miniaturisation for Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Materials Science and Bioengineering, Vol:22, ISSN:1473-0189, Pages:972-985
• Abdel Aty H, Strutt R, Mcintyre N, et al., 2022, Machine learning platform for determining experimental lipid phase behaviour from small angle X-ray scattering patterns by pre-training on synthetic data, Digital Discovery, Vol:1, Pages:98-107
• Salvador-Castell M, Golub M, Erwin N, et al., 2021, Characterisation of a synthetic Archeal membrane reveals a possible new adaptation route to extreme conditions, Communications Biology, Vol:4, ISSN:2399-3642, Pages:1-13
• Mora NL, Findlay HE, Brooks NJ, et al., 2021, The membrane transporter lactose permease increases lipid bilayer bending rigidity, Biophysical Journal, Vol:120, ISSN:0006-3495, Pages:3787-3794