Summary

I am a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Enzyme Innovation (CEI) within the school of Biological Sciences. In the Centre we are investigating solutions to environmental problems, with a particular focus on the enzymatic degradation of waste plastics.

My expertise lies the field of surface analysis, with a particular focus on scanning probe techniques. My main technique is Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and its associated advanced characterisation modes.  

My current work at the CEI is focussed on applying these surface analysis techniques to the enzyme- polymer systems of interest to elicit information on the reaction mechanism.

Biography

I graduated from Cardiff University in 2009 with an MChem (Hons) degree in Chemistry, and continued in the School of Chemistry to completed my PhD under the supervision of Professors Philip Davies and Michael Bowker, graduating in 2014.

I moved to Imperial College London in 2013, working as a Junior Research Officer in Materials Characterisation in the Department of Materials. I was promoted to Research Facility Manager in Atomic Force Microscopy in 2016.

I joined the University of Portsmouth in 2020 as a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Enzyme Innovation.

Research interests

My research focuses on the application of surface analysis techniques (in particular Atomic Force Microscopy) to a range of systems, including

  • Enzymatic degradation of polymers
  • Refinement of RNA array technology

Research outputs

2024

A high-throughput screening platform for engineering poly(ethylene terephthalate) hydrolases

Banerjee, S., Beckham, G. T., Bemmer, V. L., Clark, M. A., Dale, T., Groseclose, T., Kober, E., Moore, B. R., Nguyen, H., Pickford, A.

17 Sep 2024, In: ACS Catalysis. 14, 17p.

Investigating the effect of fusion partners on the enzymatic activity and thermodynamic stability of poly(ethylene terephthalate) degrading enzymes

Bemmer, V. L., Cahill, A., Green, K. R., Lichtenstein, B., Oliveira Pessoa, L., Wuscher, L.

17 May 2024, In: Faraday Discussions

Functionalizing DNA origami by triplex-directed site-specific photo-cross-linking

Allcock, N., Bemmer, V., Cherny, D., Del Villar-Guerra, R., Dominguez, C., Donnelly, A., Kalra, S., Matthews, D., Revyakin, A., Rusling, D. A., Singh, N.

2 May 2024, In: Journal of the American Chemical Society

2023

Concentration-dependent inhibition of mesophilic PETases on poly(ethylene terephthalate) can be eliminated by enzyme engineering

Allen, M. D., Austin, H. P., Avilan, L., Beckham, G. T., Bemmer, V. L., Clark, M. A., Dominick, G., Graham, R., Johnson, C. W., Koenig, G., Lichtenstein, B., McGeehan, J., Oliveira Pessoa, L., Pickford, A., Zahn, M.

21 Apr 2023, In: ChemSusChem. 16, 8, 12p., e202202277

View all my research outputs