I obtained a First Class Honours Degree in Biochemistry/Chemistry at the University of Sheffield. I continued at the Krebs Institute, where I obtained my PhD. Following my PhD I joined a biotechnology company, Transgenomic LTD where I worked as a research scientist developing analytical techniques including DNA/RNA Chromatography. I joined the Dept of Chemical and Biological Engineering in 2003.

I am member of number of research centres/institutes at the University of Sheffield including the Krebs Institute, Advanced Biomanufacturing Centre (ABC) and Sheffield Institute for Nucleic Acids (SInFoNiA).  I am currently the Director of Student Recruitment in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

My research focuses on the development and application analytical techniques to study biological systems. In particular, biological mass spectrometry in conjunction with bioseparations have been utilised to study a wide variety of biological systems. Using these analytical approaches we are interested in identifying and characterising protein complexes, protein-RNA/DNA complexes, protein post translational modifications and RNA post transcriptional modifications.

Research interests

• Biological mass spectrometry
• Bioseparations
• Post-translational and post-transcriptional modifications
• Proteomics
• CRISPR systems

I welcome applications from prospective PhD students.  If you are interested in projects in any of the above research areas, you can apply for a PhD position. Contact me m.dickman@sheffield.ac.uk for further information. 

We work closely with a number of industrial partners including Syngenta, GlaxoSmithKline, and ThermoFisher.

View full list of publications

Recent publications

Hollingshead S, Kopečná J, Armstrong DR, Bučinská L, Jackson PJ, Chen GE, Dickman MJ, Williamson MP, Sobotka R & Hunter CN (2016) Synthesis of Chlorophyll-Binding Proteins in a Fully Segregated Δycf54 Strain of the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803. Frontiers in Plant Science, 7.
Chen GE, Hitchcock A, Jackson PJ, Chaudhuri RR, Dickman MJ, Hunter CN & Canniffe DP (2016) Two Unrelated 8-Vinyl Reductases Ensure Production of Mature Chlorophylls in Acaryochloris marina. Journal of Bacteriology, 198(9), 1393-1400. View this article in White Rose Research Online
Close ED, Nwokeoji AO, Milton D, Cook K, Hindocha DM, Hook EC, Wood H & Dickman MJ (2016) Nucleic acid separations using superficially porous silica particles. Journal of Chromatography A, 1440, 135-144. View this article in White Rose Research Online
Minshull TC, Cole J, Dockrell DH, Read RC & Dickman MJ (2016) Analysis of histone post translational modifications in primary monocyte derived macrophages using reverse phase×reverse phase chromatography in conjunction with porous graphitic carbon stationary phase. Journal of Chromatography A, 1453, 43-53. View this article in White Rose Research Online
Mothersole DJ, Jackson PJ, Vasilev C, Tucker JD, Brindley AA, Dickman MJ & Hunter CN (2016) PucC and LhaA direct efficient assembly of the light-harvesting complexes in Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Molecular Microbiology, 99(2), 307-327. View this article in White Rose Research Online
Hitchcock A, Jackson PJ, Chidgey JW, Dickman MJ, Hunter CN & Canniffe DP (2016) Biosynthesis of Chlorophyll a in a Purple Bacterial Phototroph and Assembly into a Plant Chlorophyll–Protein Complex. ACS Synthetic Biology.
Cole J, Morris P, Dickman MJ & Dockrell DH (2016) The therapeutic potential of epigenetic manipulation during infectious diseases. Pharmacology & Therapeutics. View this article in White Rose Research Online
Nwokeoji AO, Kilby PM, Portwood DE & Dickman MJ (2016) RNASwift: a rapid, versatile RNA extraction method free from phenol and chloroform.. Analytical Biochemistry.