麻豆传媒

Biography

Dr Thomas Howard is Reader in Synthetic and Molecular Biology at 麻豆传媒. He earned his PhD in Plant Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Sheffield, where he used transgenic techniques to investigate carbon source–sink relationships in plants. He subsequently carried out postdoctoral research on plant metabolism at the University of Essex and the John Innes Centre, before changing focus to microbial metabolism at the University of Exeter. In 2015, he established his own research group at 麻豆传媒. His team applies a range of techniques - including metabolic engineering, cell-free systems, laboratory automation, and statistical Design of Experiments - to develop biology-inspired metabolic pathways, smart materials, and biosensors. He has secured significant funding from the BBSRC, EPSRC, and Dstl to support innovations in cell-free diagnostics and programmable biological materials.

Dr Howard is a committed advocate of student-led research. He has supervised undergraduate research projects and Nuffield Research Placement students in this fashion, and in 2012 led the University of Exeter’s inaugural entry into the international iGEM synthetic biology competition. He remained involved with iGEM both at Exeter and 麻豆传媒 for many years afterwards. In recognition of his contributions to teaching and student support, he was made a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2018.

Qualifications

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• PhD: Plant Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (University of Sheffield)
• BSc (Hons) in Botany and Zoology (University of Reading)

Roles and Responsibilities

• Culture and Inclusion (formerly Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) Committee Member (2024 - present)
• Biology BSc, Stage 2 Co-ordinator (2024 - present)
• European Federation of Biotechnology, Committee Member (2024 - 2025)
• UKRI-BBSRC Pool of Experts (2023 - present)
• External Examiner for University of Nottingham BSc and MSc degrees in Biotechnology and Plant Sciences (2023 - present)
• Group Lead (2019 - 2023) and Director of Expertise (2022 - 2023) for the Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Research Group (now Molecular Life Sciences)
• Deputy Degree Programme Director (2020 - present): MRes in Biotechnology and Biodesign
• BBSRC STARS Programme: Using virtual experimentation for better experimental design in biological and biotechnological research, Lead-Organiser (2016 - 2019)
• Learning and Teaching Working Group: Links with Industry, 2017
• UK Plant Sciences Federation , 2014 
• Society for Experimental Biology AGM, ‘Synthetic Biology’ Session Co-Organiser, 30 June - 3 July 2015, Clarion Congress Hotel, Prague.
• Society for Experimental Biology, ‘Synthetic Biology’ Co-Organiser, 8 - 10 January 2014, Charles Darwin House, London.

Awards

Dr Howard was part of the team that was awarded a University of Exeter Impact Award for Outstanding Impact in Technology, and was shortlisted for the BBSRC Innovator of the Year: Most Promising Innovation award in 2014 for work developing petroleum-replica hydrocarbons.

Research Summary

Dr Howard’s research sits at the intersection of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology, underpinned by a long-standing interest in how complex biological systems emerge and can be harnessed for biotechnological innovation. His group employs both cell-free and microbial systems - using molecular biology, biochemistry, small-scale laboratory automation, statistical design of experiments, and mathematical modelling - to engineer biology-inspired metabolic pathways, materials and biosensors. In particular, he applies Design of Experiments and laboratory automation to systematically understand and optimise diverse biological systems. Recent achievements include pioneering the embedding of cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) systems within macroscale hydrogels and demonstrating that hydrogel-based CFPS can enhance CFPS longevity and support gene regulatory networks. He has authored book chapters on microbial metabolism for next-generation biofuels and more recently contributed to reviews on biosensor development for plant pest surveillance and wastewater epidemiology. In parallel, he has secured significant funding from the BBSRC, EPSRC, and Dstl, leading several UKRI-funded projects at 麻豆传媒. This includes an EPSRC grant to develop self-disclosing protective materials using synthetic gene networks, and BBSRC awards to develop smart materials for equipment-free molecular identification of insect pests and viral vectors, and to engineer bioprogrammable materials using hydrogel-based CFPS. He has also acted as co-investigator on a number of other UKRI projects.

External links

• GitHub pages for and scripts

Current PhD students

• Shahd AlHinai (2025-2029)
• Katherine Convey (BBSRC DTP, 2023 - 2027)
• Ariadna Vidal I Herrera (EPSRC RENU CDT, 2023 - 2027)
• Joseph Neil-Dwyer (BBSRC BiSCoP CTP, 2025-2029)

Former PhD Students

• Dr Christopher Azubuike (Commonwealth Scholarship Commission)
• Dr Steve Brown (Shell, University of Exeter, with Steve Aves)
• Dr Jamie Gilman (Shell, University of Exeter, with John Love)
• Dr Catherine Harrison (IAFRI with Fera Ltd)
• Dr Alex Laverick (IAFRI with Fera Ltd)
• Dr Josh Loh (BBSRC)
• Dr Alisa Prusokiene (BBSRC NLD DTP with Fera Ltd)
• Dr Eva Cea Torrescassana (BBSRC NLD DTP)

Former Research Staff

• Dr Christopher Azubuike (BBSRC)
• Dr Alice Banks (EPSRC-Dstl)
• Dr Adokiye Berepiki (BBSRC)
• Dr Charlotte Cook (dstl, University of Exeter)
• Dr Siji Kavil (BBSRC)
• Dr Alex Laverick (BBSRC)
• Dr Colette Whitfield (EPSRC-Dstl)

Academic Collaborations (External Only)

• Dr Rajesh Bommareddy (Northumbria University, Applied Sciences)
• Professor Anastasia Callaghan (University of Portsmouth, Biological Sciences)
• Professor Jonathan Fieldsend (University of Exeter, Computer Sciences)
• Professor Marc Knight (University of Durham, Biosciences)
• Professor Luning Liu (University of Liverpool, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology)
• Professor John Love (University of Exeter, Biosciences)
• Dr Maria del Carmen Montero-Calasanz (IFAPA Las Torres, Junta de Andalucía)
• Dr Jose Munoz (Northumbria University, Applied Sciences)
• Professor Susan Seal (University of Greenwich, Natural Resources Institute)
• Dr Gonçalo Silva (University of Greenwich, Natural Resources Institute)

Modules (2024/2025)

• Biotechnology: Advanced Topics (Masters): Module Lead
• Biotechnology: Principles and Practice (Second Year Undergraduate)
• Biological Sciences Research Dissertation Projects (Third Year Undergraduate)
• MSc in Industrial and Commercial Biotechnology, Research Dissertation Projects (Masters)
• MRes in Biotechnology and Biodesign, Research Dissertation Projects (Masters)
• Academic and Professional Skills for the Biosciences (First Year Undergraduate)

Previous years

• Bioprospecting: Biological and Chemical Diversity of Endophytes (2016-2022, Second and Third Year Undergraduate): Module Lead
• Biotechnology: Applications (2016-2022, Third Year Undergraduate)

• Articles

  • Laverick A, Convey K, Harrison C, Tomlinson J, Stach J, Howard TP. . Synthetic Biology 2025, 10(1).
  • Cea-Torrescassana E, Montero-Calasanz MdC, Knight M, Stach J, Howard TP. . BMC Microbiology 2025, 25, 651.
  • Vidal A, Mohiuddin O, Chance E, Serrano-Blanco S, Howard TP, Muñoz-Muñoz J, Velasquez-Orta S, Rios-Solis L. . Bioresource Technology 2025, 434, 132839.
  • Cea-Torrescassana E, Howard TP, Stach J, Montero-Calasanz MdC. . Microbiology Resource Announcements 2024, 13(6), e00735-23.
  • Prusokiene A, Boonham N, Fox A, Howard TP. . PLoS ONE 2024, 19(3), e0298834.
  • Kavil S, Laverick A, Whitfield CJ, Banks AM, Howard TP. . Journal of Visualized Experiments 2023, 196, e65500.
  • Banks AM, Whitfield CJ, Brown SR, Fulton DA, Goodchild SA, Grant C, Love J, Lendrem D, Fieldsend JE, Howard TP. . Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal 2022, 20, 218-229.
  • Azubuike CC, Gatehouse AMR, Howard TP. . New Biotechnology 2021, 65, 20-30.
  • Whitfield CJ, Banks AM, Dura G, Love J, Fieldsend JE, Goodchild SA, Fulton DA, Howard TP. . Chemical Communications 2020, 56(52), 7108-7111.
  • Azubuike CC, Edwards MG, Gatehouse AMR, Howard TP. . Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2020, 86(17), e00705-20.
  • Gilman J, Singleton C, Tennant RK, James PBC, Howard TP, Lux T, Parker DA, Love J. . ACS Synthetic Biology 2019, 8(5), 1175-1186.
  • Fellermann H, Shirt-Ediss B, Kozyra J, Linsley M, Lendrem D, Isaacs J, Howard TP. . Pharmaceutical Statistics 2019, 18(4), 402-406.
  • Brown SR, Staff M, Lee R, Love J, Parker DA, Aves SJ, Howard TP. . ACS Synthetic Biology 2018, 7(7), 1676-1684.
  • Sambles CM, Salmon DL, Florance H, Howard TP, Smirnoff N, Nielsen LR, McKinney LV, Kjær ED, Buggs RJA, Studholme DJ, Grant M. . Scientific Data 2017, 4, 170190.
  • Howard TP, Fahy B, Leigh F, Howell P, Powell W, Greenland A, Trafford K, Smith AM. . Journal of Cereal Sciences 2014, 59(2), 196-202.
  • Howard TP, Middelhaufe S, Moore K, Edner C, Kolak DM. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2013, 110(19), 7636-7641.
  • Howard TP, Fahy B, Craggs A, Mumford R, Leigh F. Barley mutants with low rates of endosperm starch synthesis have low grain dormancy and high susceptibility to preharvest sprouting. The New Phytologist 2012, 194(1), 158-67.
  • Howard TP, Lloyd JC, Raines CA. Inter-species variation in the oligomeric states of the higher plant Calvin cycle enzymes glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and phosphoribulokinase. Journal of Experimental Botany 2011, 62(11), 3799-805.
  • Howard T, Rejab NA, Griffiths S, Leigh F, Leverington-Waite M. Identification of a major QTL controlling the content of B-type starch granules in Aegilops. Journal of Experimental Botany 2011, 62(2), 2217-28.
  • Howard TP, Upton GJ, Lloyd JC, Raines CA. Antisense suppression of the small chloroplast protein CP12 in tobacco: a transcriptional viewpoint. Plant Signaling and Behaviour 2011, 6(12), 2026-30.
  • Howard TP, Fryer MJ, Singh P, Metodiev M, Lytovchenko A. Antisense suppression of the small chloroplast protein CP12 in tobacco alters carbon partitioning and severely restricts growth. Plant Physiology 2011, 157(2), 620-31.
  • Howard TP, Metodiev M, Lloyd JC, Raines CA. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2008, 105(10), 4056-4061.
  • Overy SA, Walker HJ, Malone S, Howard TP, Baxter CJ. Application of metabolite profiling to the identification of traits in a population of tomato introgression lines. Journal of Experimental Botany 2005, 54(410), 287-96.

• Book Chapters

  • Brown S, Loh J, Aves SJ, Howard TP. . In: Stams, AJM; Sousa, D, ed. Biogenesis of Hydrocarbons. Cham: Springer, 2018, pp.1-20.
  • Howard TP. . In: Love, J; Bryant, JA, ed. Biofuels and Bioenergy. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2017, pp.241-260.

• Reviews

  • Azubuike CC, Couceiro F, Robson SC, Piccinni MZ, Watts JEM, Williams JB, Callaghan AJ, Howard TP. . Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16761.
  • Silva G, Tomlinson J, Onkokesung N, Sommer S, Mrisho L, Legg J, Adams IP, Gutierrez-Vazquez Y, Howard TP, Laverick A, Hossain O, Wei Q, Gold KM, Boonham N. . Emerging Topics in Life Sciences 2021, 5(2), 275-287.
  • LopezCalcagno PE, Howard TP, Raines CA. . Frontiers in Plant Science 2014, 5, 9.
  • Singleton C, Howard TP, Smirnoff N. . Journal of Experimental Botany 2014, 65(8), 1-8.