Dr Alastair Wark
Senior Lecturer
Pure and Applied Chemistry
Personal statement
Alastair Wark started his career with a BSc in Applied Chemistry in 1996 at the University of Strathclyde. He completed his PhD research in 2000 under the joint supervision of Dr Len Berlouis and Dr Frank Cruikshank at Strathclyde and also working with Prof. Pierre-Francois Brevet at the EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland. Following post-doctoral research at EPFL he was awarded a Lindemann Trust Fellowship in 2001and joined the laboratories of Prof. Rob Corn at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After moving across to the University of California-Irvine with Rob’s group and a Project Scientist position, Alastair returned to the Chemistry Department in late 2007 as a Lecturer in Nanometrology.
Area of Expertise
Nanotechnology
Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy
Bioanalytical Chemistry
Surface Chemistry
Prize And Awards
- Lindemann Trust Fellowship
- Recipient
- 2001
- Ritchie Prize
- Recipient
- 2000
- Hamilton Barrett Chemistry Prize
- Recipient
- 1998
- Carnegie Undergraduate Scholarship
- Recipient
- 1994
- Andersonian Centenary Prize
- Recipient
- 1993
Publications
- An ex vivo animal model to study the effect of transverse mechanical loading on skeletal muscle
- Sargent Marisa, Wark Alastair W, Day Sarah, Buis Arjan
- Communications Biology Vol 7 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-05994-0
- The effect of prosthesis-related loading on soft tissue health
- Sargent Marisa, Wark Alastair, Buis Arjan
- Strathclyde Doctoral School Multidisciplinary Symposium 2022 (2022)
- Stimulated Raman scattering microscopy with spectral phasor analysis : applications in assessing drug-cell interactions
- Tipping William J, Wilson Liam T, An Connie, Leventi Aristea A, Wark Alastair W, Wetherill Corinna, Tomkinson Nicholas C O, Faulds Karen, Graham Duncan
- Chemical Science Vol 13, pp. 3468-3476 (2022)
- https://doi.org/10.1039/D1SC06976D
- A universal polymer shell-isolated nanoparticle (SHIN) design for single particle spectro-electrochemical SERS sensing using different core shapes
- Boccorh Delali K, MacDonald Peter A, Boyle Colm W, Wain Andrew J, Berlouis Leonard E A, Wark Alastair W
- Nanoscale Advances Vol 3, pp. 6415-6426 (2021)
- https://doi.org/10.1039/D1NA00473E
- Investigating the response of skeletal muscle to prosthesis-related loading conditions : an ex vivo animal model
- Graser Marisa, Wark Alastair, Day Sarah, Sandison Mairi, McConnell Gail, Buis Arjan
- International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics 18th World Congress (2021)
- Development of an ex vivo model to study the response of skeletal muscle to transverse mechanical loading
- Graser M, Wark A, Day S, Buis A
- BioMedEng21 (2021)
Research Interests
My research focus is based around the synthesis, functionalization and analytical applications of novel nanomaterials alongside the development of techniques capable of optically imaging and tracking single nanoparticles and molecules. The advantages of these materials for nanometrology and bioanalytical science is that optical measurements can be performed to monitor biomolecular interactions in real-time. As well as developing robust methodologies for ultrasensitive bioaffinity detection at target concentrations approaching just a few molecules, we are also exploring the use of multimodal imaging techniques for monitoring nanoparticle-cellular interactions. This involves developing hybrid nanostructures which can be used for tackling research challenges requiring dynamic measurements in complex biological environments. Consequently, my research is highly multidisciplinary and I have enjoyed successfully collaborating with researchers from across the biology, physics, engineering and medicine research fields.
Professional Activities
- West of Scotland Meeting for Teachers of Chemistry 23rd
- Organiser
- 16/1/2023
- 22nd West of Scotland Meeting for Teachers of Chemistry
- Organiser
- 13/5/2022
- Practical CLPL at Strathclyde: past, present, and future
- Speaker
- 13/1/2022
- PhD External Examiner University of Glasgow
- External Examiner
- 6/2021
- PittCon 2021
- Participant
- 2021
- University of Portsmouth IBBS Departmental Seminar
- Invited speaker
- 9/2020
Projects
- Arrayjet AIV 2023
- Lau, K. H. Aaron (Principal Investigator) Wark, Alastair (Co-investigator)
- 27-Jan-2023 - 29-Jan-2024
- Chemistry Teacher & Technician Networking Meeting
- Thomson, Patrick (Principal Investigator) Scott, Fraser (Principal Investigator) Wark, Alastair (Principal Investigator)
- Hosting an event organised by Education Scotland, and supported with ~£350 of their funding. Included Advanced Higher practical training.
- 15-Jan-2023 - 15-Jan-2023
- 23rd West of Scotland Meeting for Teachers of Chemistry
- Thomson, Patrick (Principal Investigator) Wark, Alastair (Principal Investigator) Scott, Fraser (Principal Investigator)
- Hosted conference, funded with £1000 from the Royal Society of Chemistry.
- 12-Jan-2023 - 12-Jan-2023
- EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Prosthetics & Orthotics | Williams-Reid, Hannelore
- Buis, Arjan (Principal Investigator) Wark, Alastair (Co-investigator) Williams-Reid, Hannelore (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 01-Jan-2026
- Commonwealth split-site PhD fellowship
- Wark, Alastair (Principal Investigator) Anjali, A (Post Grad Student)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 30-Jan-2023
- 22nd West of Scotland Meeting for Teachers of Chemistry
- Thomson, Patrick (Principal Investigator) Wark, Alastair (Principal Investigator) Scott, Fraser (Principal Investigator)
- Talks held online in Janaury 2022. Practical session held in-person in May 2022. Supported by £1000 of Royal Society of Chemistry funding.
- 13-Jan-2022 - 13-Jan-2022
Contact
Dr
Alastair
Wark
Senior Lecturer
Pure and Applied Chemistry
Email: alastair.wark@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 3084