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Group photo April 2025: Mohammed Jamali, Lee Fielding, Xueyuan Li, Huize Zheng, Jian Tang, Ayesha Patel, Laila Al Saihati.
Lee A. Fielding
Dr. Lee A. Fielding obtained an MChem in Chemistry from The University of Sheffield in 2008, which was followed by a PhD in 2012 on the synthesis, characterization and applications of colloidal nanocomposite particles from the same institution with Professor Steven P. Armes. Dr. Fielding then worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher on the preparation of bespoke colloidal particles via RAFT dispersion polymerization, in part for occlusion within inorganic host crystals. He has conducted research in several other areas of polymer and colloid science including the preparation of polymer brushes, as well as synthetic micrometeorite analogues. He took up a Lectureship in the School of Materials at The University of Manchester in September 2015 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2021. He is a fellow of the higher education academy and currently a committee member of the Joint Colloids Group and a member of the RSC and IOM3. He has previously been a member of Recent Appointees in Polymer Science (RAPS) and Chair of the Early Career Colloid Network (ECCo). He is currently the Discipline Head of Education for Materials Science and Engineering at The University and has previously been a Henry Royce Institute Research Area Lead for Chemical Materials Design, Programme Director for Materials Science and Engineering Postgraduate Taught Studies & Programme Coordinator for Polymer Materials Science and Engineering.
Current Group:
Current Group:
Haoyang Pan – PhD student
Haoyang undertook his PMSE masters project in the Fielding group in 2018-2019 and continued in the group to begin his PhD project focusing on the synthesis of nano-structured colloidal composites for waterborne coatings.
Marcell Haselwood – EPSRC PhD student
Marcell gained his BSc in Chemistry from Lancaster University, and completed a MRes in the Green Chemistry Centre for Excellence at the University of York in the ring-opening polymerisation of biosourced monomers. His current project is focussed on the analysis of waterborne latex films by IR ellipsometry.
Laila Al Saihati – PhD student
The scope of Laila's project is to examine Ultrahigh Molecular Wight Poly Ethylene composites as a next generation material in comparison to its competitors.
Maria Andrea Castillo – PhD student
Maria's research focusses on addressing the challenges in gene delivery by developing innovative solutions to nanoparticle formation that can significantly impact the advancement of polymer science for biomedical applications..
Email: mariaandrea.castilloborhorquez@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk
Ayesha Patel – CDT in Advanced Biomedical Materials PhD student
Ayesha's PhD involves investigating hydrogels for controlled release of anti-viral polymers.
Jian Tang – PhD student
Jian is working on the novel methods for producing polymer/graphene nanoplatelet nanocomposite materials.
Huize Zheng – PhD student
Huize's project will focus on the preparation of nanogels which incorporate fluorescent motifs.
Francesca Patel-Burrows – EPSRC PhD student
Francesca gained her MChem in Chemistry from The University of Sheffield. Her PhD project is focussed on thermally responsive colourimetric sensors made from cellulose/polymer hybrids.
Former Group Members and Photos:
Former Group Members and Photos:
Group photo July 2024: Xueyuan Li, Jian Tang, Zhidong Luo, Lee Fielding, Laila Al Saihati, Maria Andrea Castillo.
Group photo Summer 2024: Jian Tang, Huize Zheng, Lee Fielding, Zhidong Luo, Marcell Haselwood, Xueyuan Li, Laila Al Saihati, Ruiling Du, Francesca Patel-Burrows.
Group photo Summer 2024: Back: Huize Zheng, Lee Fielding, Maria Andrea Castillo, Laila Al Saihati, Francesca Patel-Burrows, Zhidong Luo. Front: Xueyuan Li, Haoyang Pan, Mohammed Jamali, Jian Tang, Marcell Haselwood, Ruiling Du.
Group photo July 2024: Maria Andrea Castillo, Xueyuan Li, Lee Fielding, Ruiling Du, Mohammed Jamali, Marcell Haselwood, Jian Tang, Laila Al Saihati.
Zhidong Luo – PhD student
Zhidong was a MPhil student in Department of Materials then he transferred to PhD and joined the group. His project focused on preparing various polymer-assisted responsive inks for 3D printing of electronics. Following his PhD he went on to a Postdoctoral role at The University of Liverpool.
Ruiling Du – PhD student
Ruiling's PhD project involved investigating the formation of coacervate gels using block copolymer nanogels. She completed her PhD in 2024 and published three 1st author papers during her time in the group. Following her PhD she joined Central South University in China as a lecturer.
Mohammed Jamali – EPSRC/AkzoNobel sponsored PhD student
Having finished his master’s degree in Chemistry at The University of Manchester, Mohammed furthered his studies at the University by completing a PhD in our group. His project concerned the phenomenon of grain rise for waterborne wood coatings. He moved onto a Senior Technician role at the Royce Institute upon completing his PhD.
Xueyuan Li – PhD student
Xueyuan's PhD project involved investigating the functionalisation of 2D materials and copolymer nanoparticles using bespoke pyrene-functional polymers. He completed his PhD in 2025.
Group photo December 2023: Haoyang Pan, Xueyuan Li, Zhidong Luo, Jian Tang, Mohammed Jamali, Lee Fielding, Marcell Haselwood, Maria Castillo, Ruiling Du, Laila Al Saihati.
Elisabeth Trinh – MRC PhD student
After completing her MSc in Medical Microbiology at the University of Manchester, Beth worked on an Medical Research Council funded PhD in the Department of Materials looking at development of rapid diagnostic techniques for the detection of bacterial DNA in clinical samples. She passed her PhD viva in 2023 and, to-date, her work has been published in Journal of Materials Chemistry B and Biomacromolecules. Following her PhD she took up a role as a Scientific Officer in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Qi Yue – PhD student
Qi studied on the PMSE course in the Department of Materials before joining the group as an MPhil student. Her PhD project involved investigating the incorporation of 2D materials into synthetic hydrogels. She passed her PhD viva in 2023 and, to-date, her work has been published in articles in Soft Matter (x2) and ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. She went onto be a research assistant at the Wenzhou institute, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences before becoming a lecturer at Shenyang University of Chemical Technology.
Group photo August 2023: Lee Fielding, Ruiling Du, Haoyang Pan, Zhidong Luo, Elisabeth Trinh, Qi Yue, Xueyuan Li, Marcell Haselwood.
Group photo March 2023: Laila Al Saihati, Elisabeth Trinh, Lee Fielding, Ruiling Du, Haoyang Pan, Xueyuan Li, Marcell Haselwood, Zhidong Luo.
Group photo December 2022: Marcell Haselwood, Tom Dunn, Beth Trinh, Lee Fielding, Ruiling Du, Qi Yue, Haoyang Pan, Xueyuan Li.
Group photo September 2022: Mohammed Jamali, Lee Fielding, Qi Yue, Sergio Oliveira Formoso, Tom Dunn, Haoyang Pan, Ruiling Du, Zhidong Luo, Xueyuan Li, Marcell Haselwood, Elisabeth Trinh.
Group photo April 2022: Lee Fielding, Sergio Oliveira Formoso, Chi Him Lo, Mohammed Jamali, Jack Saunders, Elisabeth Trinh, Ruiling Du, Xueyuan Li, Qi Yue, Zhidong Luo, Haoyang Pan.
Sergio Oliveira Formoso – CDT PhD Regenerative Medicine student
After obtaining a Master’s Degree in Biomaterials from The University of Manchester and gaining and insight into the possibilities that hydrogels could offer to enhance peripheral nerve regeneration, Sergio joined the School of Materials for interdisciplinary training in order to explore the possibilities of photodegradable hydrogels. His project focussed on the optimisation of internal fillers to create a pro-regenerative environment for peripheral nerve regeneration. He passed his viva with no corrections in the summer of 2022.
Shang-Pin Wen - PhD student
Shang-Pin started his PhD program in the University of Manchester in September 2017 and graduated in 2021. His project used polymerisation-induced self-assembly (PISA) to design and prepare a wide range of diblock copolymer nanoparticles and has resulted in 4 publications to-date.
Group photo December 2021: Lee Fielding, Haoyang Pan, Zhidong Luo, Xueyuan Li, Mohammed Jamali, Sergio Oliveira Formoso, Fei Wu, Elisabeth Trinh, Qi Yue, Muhammad Susanto.
Group photo September 2021: Beth Trinh, Lee Fielding, Xueyuan Li, Ruiling Du, Sergio Oliveira Formoso, Mohammed Jamali, Shang-Pin Wen, Haoyang Pan, Qi Yue.
Group photo May 2021: Lee Fielding, Haoyang Pan, Shang-Pin Wen, Mohammed Jamali, Beth Trinh, Sergio Oliveira Formoso, Xueyuan Li, Qi Yue, Ruiling Du.
Jack Saunders - EPSRC/AkzoNobel sponsored PhD student
After obtaining a Masters in Chemistry from the University of Manchester, Jack completed his PhD in 2020 on waterborne coating systems for corrosion protection. He moved onto a role as polymer chemist at Innospec Inc.
Chi-Him Lo - EC Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network PhD student.
Chi was one of five early stage researchers participating in the SUSTICOAT project, which was a collaboration between AkzoNobel and The University of Manchester. He completed his PhD in 2021 and moved onto a role with AkzoNobel in the Netherlands.
Group photo September 2020: Ruiling Du, Lee Fielding, Chi-Him Lo, Sergio Oliveira Formoso, Xueyuan Li, Jack Saunders, Qi Yue, Shang-Pin Wen, Beth Trinh, Mohammed Jamali.
Group photo 2020: Mohammed Jamali, Lee Fielding, Sergio Oliveira Formoso, Shang-Pin Wen, Chi Him Lo, Jack Saunders, Beth Trinh.
Group photo 2019: Sergio Oliveira Formoso, Beth Trinh, Qi Yue, Haoyang Pan, Shang-Pin Wen, Lee Fielding, Jack Saunders.
Group photo June 2019: Lee Fielding, Zehao Yu, Ruiqi Yao, Haoyang Pan, Yizhuo Wang, Jack Saunders, Qi Yue, Shang-Pin Wen, Sergio Oliveira Formoso.
Group photo June 2018
Lee Fielding, Sergio Oliveira Formoso, Laura Soto Grande, Chang Liu, Shang-Pin Wen, Chung-Peng Lee, Syahrir Nadzmin Zawawi, Jack Saunders, Kate Thompson
Kate Thompson - MMPathIC postdoctoral researcher
Kate obtained an MChem in Chemistry with first class honours from the University of Sheffield in 2008 followed by a PhD in 2011 on the preparation and characterisation of covalently cross-linked colloidosomes under the supervision of Prof Steven P. Armes. Kate then undertook a one year EPSRC / U. Sheffield postdoctoral fellowship of which she spent 2 months at the University of Newcastle, Australia working with Prof Erica Wanless on the coalescent behaviour of giant Pickering oil droplets. Following a period of maternity leave Kate returned to U. Sheffield on a part-time basis to further her work on nanoparticle stabilised emulsions, with a particular emphasis on anisotropic worm-like stabilisers. Kate joined the U. Manchester in July 2017, as a postdoctoral researcher for Dr Lee Fielding and Dr Bianca Price, working on the synthesis of particles for medical diagnostics.
Group photo September 2017
Chi-Him Lo, Cho-Han Lee, Jing Xiong, Kate Thompson, Lee Fielding, Jack Saunders, Shang-Pin Wen
Group photo May 2017
Jing Xiong, Jack Saunders, Donglei Zhao, Cho-Han Lee, Chi-Him Lo, Haoran Chen, Lee Fielding
Group photo November 2016
Lee Fielding, Xun Li, Jack Saunders, Zhao Wang, Shangchun Zhao
Group photo June 2016
Aigerim Baimyrza, Xin Cheng, Lee Fielding, Yanxiang Zhang
Joining our group
Joining our group
We are always looking for new collaborators and to recruit talented PhD students and Post-doctoral researchers, where funding allows. Currently advertised project vacancies can be found on our University of Manchester research page and informal enquirers can be sent via email (contact details at foot of page). Prospective applicants who can self-fund or have a scholarship should also make initial contact by email.
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