Dr Zoltán Kis
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor)
z.kis@sheffield.ac.uk
G58 , Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Full contact details
Dr Zoltán Kis
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
G58
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
G58
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
- Profile
-
I am a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in the School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering at The University of Sheffield, and an Honorary Lecturer at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London.
I am leading a multidisciplinary team that is innovating and digitalising RNA vaccine and therapeutics production platform technologies. My work is addressing the challenges of producing large volumes of RNA-based vaccines and therapeutics, rapidly, at high quality and at low cost in a disease-agnostic manner.
I previously worked as a Research Associate in the Future Vaccine Manufacturing Hub at Imperial College London. I obtained my Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Imperial College London, UK, hold an M.Sc. in Applied Biotechnology and a B.Eng. in Chemical with Biochemical Engineering.
- Research interests
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Our exciting research combines experimental and computational modelling techniques to innovate RNA vaccine and therapeutics production multi-product platform processes. On the experimental front, we are developing, intensifying and scaling up continuous mRNA enzymatic synthesis, purification and formulation processes, alongside developing bespoke manufacturing equipment. Our modelling work streamlines process development and deploys software-based sensors and digital twins for monitoring and automating multi-product mRNA manufacturing. Our work is embedded into the Quality-by-Digital-Design framework and follows techno-economic considerations. Our efforts will enable the rapid development and mass manufacturing of high-quality mRNA vaccines/therapeutics at low costs against a wide range of diseases.
Key research areas include:
- Experimental mRNA vaccine and RNA therapeutics manufacturing process development: process intensification, continuous manufacturing and scale-up.
- Development and optimisation of continuous in vitro transcription (IVT) reaction for mRNA synthesis, continuous mRNA downstream purification processes based on continuous chromatography and tangential flow filtration unit operations, as well as continuous LNP formulation unit operations.
- Development of new unit operations and design of process equipment for mRNA manufacturing.
- Process digitalisation: development of soft sensors and digital twins to monitor and control the manufacturing of RNA vaccines, RNA therapeutics and other biopharmaceuticals.
- Techno-economic modelling for reducing the costs, increasing production rates and increasing production volumes of RNA vaccines, RNA therapeutics and other biopharmaceuticals.
- Quality by Digital Design for consistently ensuring product quality, support scale-up, technology transfer, and for accelerating the regulatory approval process.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- An experimental and modeling approach to study tangential flow filtration performance for mRNA drug substance purification. Biotechnology Journal, 19(11). View this article in WRRO
- Quality by design for mRNA platform purification based on continuous oligo-dT chromatography. Molecular Therapy - Nucleic Acids, 102333-102333.
- Bioprocessing 4.0: a pragmatic review and future perspectives. Digital Discovery. View this article in WRRO
- Anion exchange HPLC monitoring of mRNA in vitro transcription reactions to support mRNA manufacturing process development. Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, 11. View this article in WRRO
- Engineering an Escherichia coli based in vivo mRNA manufacturing platform. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 121(6), 1912-1926. View this article in WRRO
- Strategic Planning of a Joint SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza Vaccination Campaign in the UK. Vaccines, 12(2), 158-158.
- Quality by Digital Design for Developing Platform RNA Vaccine and Therapeutic Manufacturing Processes.. Methods Mol Biol, 2786, 339-364.
- Placing a value on increased flexible vaccine manufacturing capacity for future pandemics. Vaccine.
- Vaccines on demand, part II: future reality. Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery, 18(2), 119-127.
- A blueprint for quality by digital design to support rapid RNA vaccine process development, manufacturing & supply. Vaccine Insights, 01(04), 219-233.
- GMMA as an alternative carrier for a glycoconjugate vaccine against Group A Streptococcus. Vaccines, 10(7).
- Optimization of Lipid Nanoparticles for saRNA Expression and Cellular Activation Using a Design-of-Experiment Approach. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 19(6), 1892-1905.
- Quality by Design for enabling RNA platform production processes. Trends in Biotechnology. View this article in WRRO
- Comparative sustainability study of energy storage technologies using data envelopment analysis. Energy Storage Materials, 48, 412-438.
- Pandemic-response adenoviral vector and RNA vaccine manufacturing. npj Vaccines, 7(1).
- Stability modelling of mRNA vaccine quality based on temperature monitoring throughout the distribution chain. Pharmaceutics, 14(2).
- Model-based planning and delivery of mass vaccination campaigns against infectious disease: application to the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. Vaccines, 9(12). View this article in WRRO
- Quality by design modelling to support rapid RNA vaccine production against emerging infectious diseases. npj Vaccines, 6(1). View this article in WRRO
- Enhancing vaccine platforms : computational models accelerate development, manufacturing, and distribution. BioProcess International. View this article in WRRO
- Resources, production scales and time required for producing RNA vaccines for the global pandemic demand. Vaccines, 9(1). View this article in WRRO
- Rapid development and deployment of high‐volume vaccines for pandemic response. Journal of Advanced Manufacturing and Processing, 2(3). View this article in WRRO
- A model‐based quantification of the impact of new manufacturing technologies on developing country vaccine supply chain performance : a Kenyan case study. Journal of Advanced Manufacturing and Processing, 1(3). View this article in WRRO
- Emerging Technologies for Low‐Cost, Rapid Vaccine Manufacture. Biotechnology Journal, 14(7), 1-2.
- Emerging technologies for low‐cost, rapid vaccine manufacture. Biotechnology Journal, 14(1). View this article in WRRO
- Framework for WASH sector data improvements in data-poor environments, applied to Accra, Ghana. Water, 10(9). View this article in WRRO
- Electricity generation technologies: Comparison of materials use, energy return on investment, jobs creation and CO2 emissions reduction. Energy Policy, 120, 144-157. View this article in WRRO
- Preclinical testing of an oncolytic parvovirus in Ewing sarcoma : protoparvovirus H-1 induces apoptosis and lytic infection in vitro but fails to improve survival in vivo. Viruses, 10(6). View this article in WRRO
- Preclinical testing of an oncolytic parvovirus : standard protoparvovirus H-1PV efficiently induces osteosarcoma cell lysis in vitro. Viruses, 9(10). View this article in WRRO
- Development of a synthetic gene network to modulate gene expression by mechanical forces. Scientific Reports, 6(1). View this article in WRRO
- Comparison between direct and reverse electroporation of cells in situ: a simulation study. Physiological Reports, 4(6), e12673-e12673. View this article in WRRO
- Mammalian synthetic biology: emerging medical applications. Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 12(106), 20141000-20141000. View this article in WRRO
- A novel high-throughput platform for siRNA transfection of primary mammalian cells. Atherosclerosis, 237(2), e14-e14.
- Systems and synthetic biology of the vessel wall. FEBS Letters, 586(15), 2164-2170. View this article in WRRO
- Computational investigations on the electronic structure and reactivity of thiourea dioxide: sulfoxylate formation, tautomerism and dioxygen liberation. Journal of Sulfur Chemistry, 31(1), 27-39.
- The electronic structure of biologically relevant Fe(0) systems. International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, NA-NA.
- A new route to carbon monoxide adducts of heme proteins. Journal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines, 12(10), 1096-1099.
- Inflammatory- and immune responses in relation to bacterial replication in mice following re-infections with Chlamydophila pneumoniae. Inflammation Research, 57(6), 287-295.
- Expression of bacterial genes and induction of INF-γ in human myeloid dendritic cells during persistent infection withChlamydophila pneumoniae. FEMS Immunology & Medical Microbiology, 52(3), 324-334.
- Bacteriophage RNA polymerases: catalysts for mRNA vaccines and therapeutics. Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, 11, 1504876.
- Quality by Design Framework Applied to GMMA Purification. The AAPS Journal, 26(2).
- Techno-Economic Evaluation of Novel SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Manufacturing in the Insect Cell Baculovirus Platform. International Journal of Technology, 13(8), 1630-1630.
- Correction: Kis, Z. et al. Resources, Production Scales and Time Required for Producing RNA Vaccines for the Global Pandemic Demand. Vaccines 2021, 9, 3. Vaccines, 9(3), 205-205.
- ‘Super-reduced’ iron under physiologically-relevant conditions. Dalton Trans., 39(6), 1464-1466.
Chapters
- Quality by design and techno-economic modelling of RNA vaccine production for pandemic-response, Computer Aided Chemical Engineering (pp. 2167-2172). Elsevier
- Optimal design and planning of supply chains for viral vectors and RNA vaccines, Computer Aided Chemical Engineering (pp. 1633-1638). Elsevier
- Computationally Designed Recombinant-DNA-Based Compounds Production Driven in Plants During Secondary Metabolism and Their Implication in Antimalarial Therapies, Natural Bio-active Compounds (pp. 127-146). Springer Singapore
- An In situ electroporation and flow device for mechanotransduction studies, Microarrays: Principles, Applications and Technologies (pp. 49-67).
Preprints
- Engineering an E. coli -based in vivo mRNA manufacturing platform, Authorea, Inc..
- Pandemic-response adenoviral vector and RNA vaccine manufacturing, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- An experimental and modeling approach to study tangential flow filtration performance for mRNA drug substance purification. Biotechnology Journal, 19(11). View this article in WRRO
- Research group
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For the latest info on our research and team, please visit our research team website.
- Grants
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Date Funder Role Title Funding amount 1 Oct 2024
–
30 Sep 2027
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) Principal Investigator RNAboxTM: An automated continuous closed RNA platform process-in-a-box for rapid outbreak-response disease-agnostic RNA vaccine development and mass-manufacturing at high-quality and low-cost £3.7 million
(US $4. 8 million)
May 2024 –
May 2026
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). BB/Y007514/1. Engineering Biology, Mission Awards. Co-Investigator Electrospun mucoadhesive matrices for polymersome-mediated mRNA vaccine delivery £1.72 million Nov 2023
–
Nov 2028
UK Department of Health and Social Care and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Co-Investigator UK-south-east Asia-vaccine manufacturing research hub £7.6 million Oct 2023 –
Oct 2025
Innovate UK. Principal Investigator Automated and digitalised RNA process-in-a-box for rapid outbreak-responsedisease-agnostic RNA vaccine/therapeutic development and manufacturing at high-quality and low cost £2 million 7 June 2023 BBSRC Co-Investigator NanoAnalyzer: An emerging technology to analyse life at the nanoscale £242,400 20 October 2022. BBSRC Doctoral Training (CDT/DTC/DTP). Co-Supervisor iCASE PhD studentship with AstraZeneca Plc £84,000 March 2022. ESPRC Doctoral Training Partnership Co-Supervisor iCASE PhD studentship with RedShift BioAnalytics, Inc. £130,200 Dec 2021 –
Jul 2022
United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI), Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) Co-Investigator Innovating the process of RNA vaccine and therapeutic manufacturing – building external partnerships and exploring commercialisation opportunities £74,331 Dec 2021 –
Oct 2024
Wellcome Leap RNA Readiness + Response (R3) Principal Investigator Digitalised, small-scale and high-throughput process for distributed and automated RNA production for therapy and pandemic preparedness. Multi-million USD (confidential) 2020-2022 UKRI, EPSRC, EP/V01479X/1 Co-applicant Meeting the UK demand for COVID19/SARS-CoV-2 vaccines via integrated manufacturing and supply chain optimisation £448,148 2020-2022 Wellcome Innovator Award Co-applicant A pathway to a live-attenuated whole parasite malaria vaccine. £727,458 2020-2021 Kidney Research UK. Paediatric Innovation Grant Award Co-Investigator Cell catcher: developing a new method for cell isolation and preservation from urine samples of Bardet-Biedl Syndrome patients £40,000
- Teaching activities
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- I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and I am passionate about teaching and training the next generation of chemical and biological engineers.
- I am supervising and co-supervising the PhD projects in the field of mRNA production, purification, formulation and analysis in our research team.
- I am teaching the following modules: 1) CPE336-CPE6043, Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing, 3rd Year UG & M.Sc., Module Leader & Lecturer 2) BIE103 Introduction to Bioengineering, 1st Year UG, Lecturer
- Professional activities and memberships
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- July 2019 – Present. American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), Postdoctoral Member.
- Nov 2018 – Present. Institution of Chemical Engineers, London (IChemE), U.K., Professional Member.
- June 2018 – Present. European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB).
- June 2018 – Present. European Biotechnology Network (EBN).
- June 2018 – Present. Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN).
- May 2018 – Present. The Network in Bioprocessing (BioProNET), a BBSRC Network in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy co-sponsored by EPSRC (U.K. based).
- May 2018 – Present. The Food Waste Network (FoodWasteNet), a BBSRC Network in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy (U.K. based).
- April 2018 – Present. Vaccine Research Network (VRN) at Imperial College London.
- March 2012 – Present. European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
- February 2012 – Present. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
- November 2010 – Present. European Association for Cancer Research (EACR).
I am regularly invited to speak at scientific and industry conferences, and to advise policy experts, non-governmental organisations and companies. For example, I provided consultancy on techno-economic modelling to the WHO mRNA Technology Transfer Hub. I sit on the Sanofi mRNA CMC Advisory Board and the Pfizer mRNA Technology Advisory Board.