Hasan Alkassem (PhD)

Hasan Alkassem (PhD)

Chandler's Ford, England, United Kingdom
3K followers 500+ connections

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About

With over a decade of combined experience in entrepreneurial, business development, and…

Experience

  • Raffles PharmaTech Graphic

    Raffles PharmaTech

    Europe

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    Compton, England, United Kingdom

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    Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, United Kingdom

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    London, United Kingdom

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    London, United Kingdom

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    Coventry, United Kingdom

Education

  • UCL Graphic

    UCL

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    We designed and synthesized antimicrobial peptides and capsules to investigate their attack mechanisms on bacterial cell membranes. Our work could lead to the development of new antibiotics and preservatives with reduced bacterial resistance.

    This project was a collaboration between UCL's Department of Biochemical Engineering, the London Centre for Nanotechnology, and the National Physical Laboratory.

    Read more about our work in the selected articles below:

    Independent:…

    We designed and synthesized antimicrobial peptides and capsules to investigate their attack mechanisms on bacterial cell membranes. Our work could lead to the development of new antibiotics and preservatives with reduced bacterial resistance.

    This project was a collaboration between UCL's Department of Biochemical Engineering, the London Centre for Nanotechnology, and the National Physical Laboratory.

    Read more about our work in the selected articles below:

    Independent: Breast Milk Protein Could Destroy Superbugs
    http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/breast-milk-protein-could-destroy-superbugs-a6829796.html

    Guardian: Protein in Breast Milk Fights Bacteria
    https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jan/23/protein-in-breast-milk-could-be-used-to-combat-certain-bacteria-scientists-find

    UCL News: Synthetic Virus
    http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0118/230118-synthetic-virus

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    The research project was in Solid-state NMR group supervised by Dr Józef Lewandowski and involved collaboration with Pfizer.

    For more information about the research project accomplished in Warwick, visit my webpage :

    http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wcas/about/people/students/hasan_alkassem/

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    The four-year course has been successfully passed with a firm understanding of both academic and industrial practices along with the additional accolade of being ranked the 1st in my year.
    Fields Covered;
    Organic, inorganic, industrial, polymers, analytical, physical, food, and natural-products chemistries.

Licenses & Certifications

Publications

  • Tuneable poration: host defense peptides as sequence probes for antimicrobial mechanisms

    Nature(Scientific Reports)

    we show that subtle structural alterations convert antimicrobial mechanisms from native carpet-like scenarios to poration and non-porating bacterial membrane exfoliation.

    Other authors
    See publication

  • Antimicrobial peptide capsids of de novo design

    Nature Communications

    The spread of bacterial resistance to antibiotics poses the need for antimicrobial discovery. With traditional search paradigms being exhausted, approaches that are altogether different from antibiotics may offer promising and creative solutions. Here, we introduce a de novo peptide topology that—by emulating the virus architecture—assembles into discrete antimicrobial capsids. Using the combination of high-resolution and real-time imaging, we demonstrate that these artificial capsids assemble…

    The spread of bacterial resistance to antibiotics poses the need for antimicrobial discovery. With traditional search paradigms being exhausted, approaches that are altogether different from antibiotics may offer promising and creative solutions. Here, we introduce a de novo peptide topology that—by emulating the virus architecture—assembles into discrete antimicrobial capsids. Using the combination of high-resolution and real-time imaging, we demonstrate that these artificial capsids assemble as 20-nm hollow shells that attack bacterial membranes and upon landing on phospholipid bilayers instantaneously (seconds) convert into rapidly expanding pores causing membrane lysis (minutes). The designed capsids show broad antimicrobial activities, thus executing one primary function—they destroy bacteria on contact.

    Other authors
    See publication

  • Structurally plastic peptide capsules for synthetic antimicrobial viruses

    Chemical Science

    A conceptual design for artificial antimicrobial viruses is described. The design emulates viral assembly and function to create self-assembling peptide capsules that promote efficient gene delivery and silencing in mammalian cells.

    Unlike viruses, however, the capsules are antimicrobial, which allows them to exhibit a dual biological function: gene transport and antimicrobial activity.

    Unlike other antimicrobials, the capsules act as pre-concentrated antimicrobial agents that…

    A conceptual design for artificial antimicrobial viruses is described. The design emulates viral assembly and function to create self-assembling peptide capsules that promote efficient gene delivery and silencing in mammalian cells.

    Unlike viruses, however, the capsules are antimicrobial, which allows them to exhibit a dual biological function: gene transport and antimicrobial activity.

    Unlike other antimicrobials, the capsules act as pre-concentrated antimicrobial agents that elicit
    rapid and localised membrane-disrupting responses by converting into individual pores at their precise landing positions on membranes.

    The concept holds promise for engineering virus-like scaffolds with biologically tuneable properties

    Other authors
    See publication

Projects

  • London Entrepreneur's Challenge 2014

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    We have done a business plan for a product to solve the problem of getting the bicycles stolen from the the public areas which is a massive problem in London and worldwide. We worked as a team, everybody added a great value to the project. The product is designed and optimised stations including 10-20 lockers each, and each locker fits only one bike. The access to these lockers is through a very dynamic system. By sending SMS message to the system with a particular code, the customer if…

    We have done a business plan for a product to solve the problem of getting the bicycles stolen from the the public areas which is a massive problem in London and worldwide. We worked as a team, everybody added a great value to the project. The product is designed and optimised stations including 10-20 lockers each, and each locker fits only one bike. The access to these lockers is through a very dynamic system. By sending SMS message to the system with a particular code, the customer if registered will instantly receive a reply with the pin number to access the locker. The charge for this service will be directly taken either from the bank account that is set already by the customer or it will be taken from the mobile bill. The design was created so it saves space comparing with the traditional bicycle racks and the walls can be invested for advertisement.
    The project did not win the prise because of the associated issue of the big involvement of the local authority. However, it is a quite profitable project with a great improvement for the city if the liaison with the boroughs is not considered as a big obstacle from the perspective of investors and entrepreneurs.

    Other creators

  • Engineering Yes 2014

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    Engineering Yes is a training competition to present a business plan for an realistic but fictitious start-up company to a group of investors and industry experts. As part of the project, I took on the role of Operation Director. Together with my team, I have presented a business plan for the development of a flying wind turbine. The business plan included R&D, market investigation, finance and route to commercialization.

    Other creators

Languages

  • English

    Native or bilingual proficiency

  • Arabic

    Native or bilingual proficiency

Organizations

  • Society of Cosmetic Scientists

    Member

    - Present

    For more information visit the webpage: http://www.scs.org.uk/

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