Dr Nicholas Harmer

Nicholas Harmer is an expert in enzymology and protein structure. His research is focused on understanding how enzymes work and how they can be used to make new molecules. He has a particular focus on the sugar molecules that coat the surfaces of most microbial cells and using these for vaccine development. 

About me:

Enzyme cascades and their applications

Enzymes are nature’s catalysts. They are molecules that make reactions in biology work faster. All the chemical changes needed in living systems rely on enzymes speeding up reactions at the right time. Our work seeks to understand sets of enzymes working together – a “cascade” – to drive desirable reactions. We engineer some enzymes using evolutionary methods. We then apply this understanding to practical problems. Our key examples are: the production of sugars for use in vaccines against bacteria; and chemical transformations for drug manufacture. Our work will help to deliver vaccines or drugs at scale using fewer resources and producing less waste. It will help both with overcoming antimicrobial resistance, and achieving a green future.

Time-resolved structural studies of enzymes

The key steps in enzyme catalysis occur quickly in rare events on a molecular timescale. To gain deeper understanding of how enzymes work, we want to determine the structure of enzymes as they move through the catalytic cycle. Achieving this requires the latest structural biology innovations. We aim to use our well-characterised systems from the enzyme cascade projects to work with synchrotron experts to catch enzymes in the act of catalysis and better understand how enzymes achieve their amazing speeding up of reactions.

Research Team

Anil Jamithireddy (Postdoc)

Courtney Tremlett (PhD)

William Stuart (PhD)

Freddie Moore (PhD)

Zhaorui Gu (PhD)

I am a member of the Biochemistry, Chemical Biology and Structural Biology and Microbes and Disease research groups.

Qualifications:

Biography

Prof. Harmer trained for his PhD in X-ray crystallography in the laboratory of Prof. Sir Tom Blundell at the University of Cambridge. He spent three further years in Cambridge as a postdoctoral research associate working on growth factors and enzymes, and learning biophysical techniques. He then worked for AstraZeneca in Mölndal, Sweden as a structural biologist for one year to gain an understanding of industry. He joined the University of Exeter in 2007 and established a research programme on the structure and function of enzymes in biological cascades. In 2017 he was amongst the first PIs to join the Living Systems Institute.

Qualifications

2000-2004 PhD Biochemistry, University of Cambridge
1999-2000 MSci Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge
1996-2000 2003 MA Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge

Career:

2018-present Associate Professor in Biochemistry, Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter, UK

2012-2018 Senior Lecturer in Structural Biochemistry, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, UK
2007-2012 Lecturer in Structural Biochemistry, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, UK
2006-2007 Senior Scientist, AstraZeneca R&D Molndal, Sweden
2003-2006 Research Associate, Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, UK