Dr Adam Brown

Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering

Senior Lecturer

PGR Progression Tutor

adam.brown@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 7608

Room G54, Sir Robert Hadfield Building

Full contact details

Dr Adam Brown
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Room G54
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD

Profile

I obtained a first class honours degree in Molecular Biology and Virology from the University of Warwick in 2008, and a PhD from the University of Sheffield in 2014. Following my PhD, I worked in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Sheffield, first as a Postdoctoral Research Associate (2014 – 2017), and then as a Research Fellow (2017).

In 2018 I was appointed as Lecturer in DNA Engineering, and subsequently as Senior Lecturer in 2021. My research group focusses on designing synthetic genetic constructs to control and analyse cellular processes, applying the ‘measure-model-manipulate-manufacture’ engineering design cycle to create DNA components with industry-required functionalities.

My lab is currently utilising > £1 million in research funding to create novel synthetic components for biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing systems. I use these projects and associated industry links to deliver research-led teaching (Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing) to our Level 3 and MSc students. The quality of this teaching has been recognised with Commendations for Teaching Excellence in 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2018-19, in addition to receiving the Best Lecturer Prize (Level 3) in 2019-20.

Research interests

Designing synthetic genetic constructs
Controlling and analysing mammalian gene/protein expression
Engineering cell factories
Biomanufacturing of therapeutic proteins and gene/cell therapies
Mammalian synthetic biology

I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students and PDRAs. If you are interested in projects in any of the above research areas, contact me for further information.

Publications

Journal articles

Johari YB, Scarrott JM, Pohle TH, Liu P, Mayer A, Brown AJ & James DC (2022) Engineering of the CMV promoter for controlled expression of recombinant genes in HEK293 cells. Biotechnology Journal. View this article in WRRO
Johnson AO, Fowler SB, Webster CI, Brown AJ & James DC (2022) Bioinformatic design of dendritic cell-specific synthetic promoters. ACS Synthetic Biology, 11(4), 1613-1626.
Patel YD, Brown AJ, Zhu J, Rosignoli G, Gibson SJ, Hatton D & James DC (2021) Control of Multigene Expression Stoichiometry in Mammalian Cells Using Synthetic Promoters.. ACS Synth Biol.
Johari YB, Mercer AC, Liu Y, Brown AJ & James DC (2021) Design of synthetic promoters for controlled expression of therapeutic genes in retinal pigment epithelial cells.. Biotechnol Bioeng.
Cartwright JF, Arnall CL, Patel YD, Barber NOW, Lovelady CS, Rosignoli G, Harris CL, Dunn S, Field RP, Dean G , Daramola O et al (2020) A platform for context-specific genetic engineering of recombinant protein production by CHO cells. Journal of Biotechnology, 312, 11-22.
Johari YB, Brown AJ, Alves CS, Zhou Y, Wright CM, Estes SD, Kshirsagar R & James DC (2019) CHO Genome Mining for Synthetic Promoter Design. Journal of Biotechnology. View this article in WRRO
Brown AJ, Gibson SJ, Hatton D, Arnall CL & James DC (2019) Whole synthetic pathway engineering of recombinant protein production. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 116(2), 375-387. View this article in WRRO
Brown AJ, Gibson SJ, Hatton D & James DC (2017) In silico design of context-responsive mammalian promoters with user-defined functionality. Nucleic Acids Research, 45(18), 10906-10919. View this article in WRRO
Brown AJ, Gibson S, Hatton D & James DC (2017) Transcriptome-based identification of the optimal reference CHO genes for normalisation of qPCR data. Biotechnology Journal. View this article in WRRO
Brown AJ & James DC (2017) Constructing Strong Cell Type-Specific Promoters Through Informed Design, 131-145.
Brown AJ & James DC (2016) Precision control of recombinant gene transcription for CHO cell synthetic biology. Biotechnology Advances, 34(5), 492-503.
Brown AJ, Sweeney B, Mainwaring DO & James DC (2015) NF-κB, CRE and YY1 elements are key functional regulators of CMV promoter-driven transient gene expression in CHO cells. Biotechnology Journal, 10(7), 1019-1028.
Brown AJ, Sweeney B, Mainwaring DO & James DC (2014) Synthetic promoters for CHO cell engineering. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 111(8), 1638-1647.
Brown AJ, Mainwaring DO, Sweeney B & James DC (2013) Block decoys: Transcription-factor decoys designed for in vitro gene regulation studies. Analytical Biochemistry, 443(2), 205-210.
Johari YB, Jaffé SRP, Scarrott JM, Johnson AO, Mozzanino T, Pohle TH, Maisuria S, Bhayat‐Cammack A, Lambiase G, Brown AJ , Tee KL et al () Production of Trimeric SARS‐CoV‐2 Spike Protein by CHO Cells for Serological COVID‐19 Testing. Biotechnology and Bioengineering.

Chapters

(2017) Protein Therapeutics Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA
Brown AJ, Kalsi D, Fernandez-Martell A, Cartwright J, Barber NOW, Patel YD, Turner R, Bryant CL, Johari YB & James DC () Expression Systems for Recombinant Biopharmaceutical Production by Mammalian Cells in Culture, Methods and Principles in Medicinal Chemistry (pp. 423-467). Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA

Patents

Brown AJ, James DC, Gibson SJ & Hatton D (2018) In silico design of mammalian promoters with user-defined functionality. WO 2018/193072 A1 Appl. 25 Oct 2018.
James DC & Brown AJ (2015) Synthetic promoters for CHO cells, methods of producing synthetic promoters using transcription factor binding site modules. WO2015079053-A2; WO2015079053-A3 Appl. 08 Oct 2015.
James DC & Brown AJ (2014) Regulating recombinant gene expression in vitro comprises providing a host cell encoding recombinant genes for expression, and contacting the cell with an exonuclease resistant block decoy. WO2014202640-A1 Appl. 24 Dec 2014.

Grants: I currently have eleven active research grants, totalling over £1 million (apportioned income) in external funding (6x PI, 4x Co-PI, 3x Co-I). Supported by both UKRI and biopharmaceutical companies my lab is currently utilising this research funding to develop synthetic biological components for i) enhanced production of therapeutic proteins, nucleic acids and viral vectors, and ii) improved performance of gene therapies. I am also a founding director of a spin-out company which provides synthetic genetic components for the biopharmaceutical industry.

Teaching activities: I currently lead a module on Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing (CPE336/CPE6043), and supervise 4th Year BioEng/ChemEng and MSc research projects (CPE440/CPE6011). Awards: Commendation for Teaching Excellence - 2015-16, 2016-17, 2018-19; Best Lecturer (Level 3) – 2019/20