Current Members

Group Leader

Senior Research Fellows

Calum Ferguson

Calum Ferguson was born in Scotland but has lived across the UK and in Germany. He attained an integrated Masters in Chemistry at The University of Edinburgh, graduating in 2013. After a short time working in industry at Syngenta, he then undertook his PhD at the University of Leeds, UK, with Dr Olivier Cayre graduating in 2018. After the completion of his doctoral studies, he joined the Department of Physical Chemistry of Polymers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP), working with Prof. Katharina Landfester. In early 2020, he started as an independent research group leader at MPIP, where he maintains a small group. Calum joined the O’Reilly Group as a Senior Research Fellow in April 2022. His research interests include controlled radical polymer synthesis, photocatalytic classical polymers, organic small molecule photocatalysts, and selective photocatalysis.

Email: [email protected]

Post-Doctoral Researchers

Parvaneh Eskandari

Parvaneh is from Tabriz in Iran. As a Chemical Engineer, she decided to continue her Master's studies in polymer science at the Sahand University of Technology where her investigation had been based on the improvement of the mechanical properties of industrial polymers. She then joined the group of Professor Roghani-Mamaqani at the department of Polymer Engineering –Sahand University of Technology as a PhD student (2015). Proceeding with her studies, she defined two main categories for her PhD studies in the area of polymer chemistry: (I) Synthesis of responsive polymer nanocomposites for novel applications such as water treatment and drug delivery systems; (II) Studies on grafting methods in order to functionalize carbon nanotube (CNT)/ graphene. At the same time, Parvaneh has worked as an educator and lecturer in Chemistry. Parvaneh joined the O'Reilly group as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow in November 2022 to design and synthesize aggregation-induced Emission-active stimuli-responsive nano-objects for water treatment application.

Email: [email protected]

Josh Tibbetts

Josh joined the O’Reilly group in November 2023, to work on the EPSRC molecular technology project entitled ‘An Artificial Ribosome’, which aims to develop responsive DNA machines. Josh earned his MSci from the University of Cambridge, and his PhD at the University of Bath’s Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies, working with Professor Steve Bull. Josh was latterly a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Bath, working on photocatalysis and amine functionalisation. He enjoys attending live music gigs, as well as collecting & listening to vinyl records.

Email: [email protected]

Visiting Researchers

Jian Zhang

Jian was born in Bozhou, Anhui Province, China. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2019. Then, he joined the College of Material and Textile Engineering, Jiaxing University. His present research interests focus on the ionic effects in polyelectrolytes and Develop Functional Nucleic-Based, Polypeptides and Sequence-Defined Polymers and Detect their Potential Applications. During his time in the O’Reilly Group, Jian will design functional polymers based on nucleic acid, developing a new method to synthesize functional nucleic-based and sequence-defined polymers.

Email: [email protected]

Peng Sun

Peng is from Jining, Shandong Province, China, and currently works at the Beijing Institute of Technology. He graduated from Beijing University of Chemical Technology with a bachelor's degree under the guidance of Prof. Shouke Yan. Then he obtained his Ph.D. at Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2019 under the supervision of Prof. Ke Zhang, and his doctoral thesis focused on new methods for cyclic polymers. After a 3-year postdoctoral research at Prof. Xi Zhang’s group, Peng Sun became an assistant professor at Advanced Research Institute of Multidisciplinary Science, Beijing Institute of Technology in 2022. His current research interests include multicomponent polymerization, supramolecular polymers, and clusterization-triggered emission. Peng’s research in the O’Reilly group will include self-assembly induced emission and the self-assembly of spiropolymers. Peng’s expertise encompasses both organic synthesis and polymer synthesis. Peng enjoys watching movies, listening to music, and playing table tennis and badminton.

Email: [email protected]

Liangliang Shen

Liangliang was born in Tianshui, Gansu Province, China. He received his BSc degree in Chemistry at Lanzhou University in 2009. Then, he continued his postgraduate study at Nankai University as a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Linqi Shi in polymer chemistry and physics. After his PhD degree, he joined Prof. Zesheng An’s group at Shanghai University as a postdoctoral fellow, working on radical polymerization and polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). Since 2018, he has been appointed as an associate professor at Wenzhou Medical University, with research interest in designing nanomaterials via PISA and their applications in ocular drug delivery.

Email: [email protected]

PhD Students

Final Year

JESS HAWKINS

Jess was born in Bristol but grew up in Cornwall. She moved to Birmingham for her undergraduate studies, during which she travelled to Basel in Switzerland for a year in industry. Here she interned with Roche working on a project developing small molecules for the treatment of Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Jess’s MSci Chemistry degree included a final-year project with the Cox Group working on the synthesis of phenyltriazolinedione derivatives for the bioconjugation of proteins. Her PhD on DNA-templated chemistry uses DNA in the synthesis of oligonucleotides.

Email: [email protected]

DAVID LONDOÑO

David is from Cartagena de Indias in Colombia, and has also lived in Spain. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Zaragoza, supervised on his thesis 'Synthesis of New hole-transporters for perovskite solar cells applications' by Dr Santiago Franco Ontaneda. His Master’s degree in Industrial Chemistry, supervised by Dr Elena Piera Camas and in collaboration with Nurel Engineering Polymers SA, resulted in the thesis 'Synthesis and Study of properties of new polyamide 6 Nanocomposite polymers type for injection applications'. David worked as an R&D Laboratory Technician at Nurel Engineering Polymers for three years. He joined the O’Reilly Group as a PhD student in early 2021; his studies are supported by the BP Pelican project, which aims to use polymer-based solutions to improve reservoir sweep.

Email: [email protected]

3rd Year

RACHEL STRACEY

Lancastrian Rachel studies Chemistry to contribute to a sustainable future through the development of new materials. She graduated with a Master of Chemistry from the University of York – her Master’s research project was completed in Prof. Duncan Bruce’s group and was titled: “An investigation into the introduction of perfluorinated chains into the structure of discotic luminescent gold(III) complexes and their effects on mesophase behaviour”. Rachel joined the O’Reilly Group in June 2021 to research crystalline-driven self-assembly and fluorescent barcoding.

Email: [email protected]

BETHANY CROW

Beth joined the O’Reilly Group as a new PhD researcher in 2021. A native of Hull, her research interest centres on toxicology, and her PhD will investigate nanoparticles for biomedical application. Beth’s MChem and BSc in Chemistry with a Year in Industry were earned at the University of Leeds. Her masters project was on the Structure Activity Relationships of Quinolines (antimalarials) with an artificial biomembrane screening platform (membrane-on-a-chip), pioneered by Professor Andrew Nelson. Beth is a keen dancer and dog lover.

Email: [email protected]

JAKE BARKER

Jake is from Bristol, and his studies have taken him to Wales and Canada. On his Integrated MChem at Cardiff University with Professor Angela Casini, he developed metal NHC-complexes to prevent DNA replication in cancers. Jake’s year abroad at the University of Toronto Mississauga with the Gunning Group involved the development of electrophilic warhead molecules for the disruption of cancer proliferation. His PhD investigating the precision self-assembly of polymers builds towards Jake’s interest in medicinal applications. He enjoys live music.

Email: [email protected]

PHILLIPPA EDGE

Phillippa has lived in Bedford, Cambridge, and Durham, where she earned her MChem. Her Masters Project took place in the Functional Surface Research group, and was based around metal-organic frameworks and the functionalisation of surfaces with biopolymers. Most recently, Phillippa worked in R&D at US biotechnology company Illumina, investigating patterned flowcell technology. Her PhD in the O’Reilly Group will focus on DNA. Phillippa enjoys camping and playing squash.

Email: [email protected]

LAIHUI XIAO

Laihui is a graduate of Fujian Normal University – where he researched recycled PET during his BEng majoring in Polymer Materials and Engineering – and of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, from where he earned an MEng focused on modifying commercial epoxy resin with bio-based materials. He has most recently worked as a research assistant investigating bio-based functional polymeric materials. Laihui’s research in the O’Reilly Group will concentrate on the synthesis of complex, degradable and functional polymeric nanoparticles by the method of crystallization driven self-assembly (CDSA). Laihui enjoys cycling, table tennis, and running.

Email: [email protected]

2nd Year

Associate Group Members

Stephen Fielden

Steve is an independent Leverhulme Early Career Fellow affiliated with the O’Reilly group.

Born in Bury, Greater Manchester, Steve earned his MChem from the University of Oxford in 2015, working with Prof. Véronique Gouverneur FRS during his Part II year. His PhD, supervised by Prof. David Leigh FRS at the University of Manchester, concerned the construction of interlocked molecules (rotaxanes, catenanes and knots) and developing new molecular machinery. After completing his PhD in 2019, he continued his research in Prof. Leigh’s laboratory with a postdoctoral research position. He then joined the group of Prof. Rachel O’Reilly FRS as a Research Fellow in January 2021 before commencing his Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship in October 2021. Steve’s experience spans supramolecular and non-equilibrium systems chemistry. In his fellowship, Steve will explore the dynamics and applications of non-equilibrium polymer nanoparticles. Steve is mentored by Rachel and contributes to the activities of the O’Reilly group.

Email: [email protected]