Professor Andrew Hudson

I am a biophysical chemist with a track record for interdisciplinary collaborative research. I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Chemical Physics from the University of Toronto where I worked with Professor John Polanyi FRS. Between 2000 and 2005 I worked for a number of companies in the optical technologies industry EFOS Inc. (Mississauga Canada) EXFO Inc. (Mississauga Canada) and Novx Systems (Richmond Hill Canada). In 2005 I returned to academia and started an independent research group moving to the University of Leicester in 2008. I specialise in applying optical methods including optical tweezing molecular spectroscopy and microscopy (and combinations of these) to address problems at the life science interface.

My research has been funded by EPSRC the Wellcome Trust the Royal Society BBSRC and the Leverhulme Trust. I have been using methods in single molecule fluorescence microscopy to study the conformational dynamics of forked-DNA and the reaction mechanisms of RNA splicing complexes. I have also applied Raman microspectroscopy to monitor haem proteins in live cardiomyocytes and determine mechanisms for how small molecules (NO, CO) confer cardioprotection via their interactions with haem proteins. I have expertise with developing hybrid techniques: for example the integration of holographic optical tweezing and spectroscopy and microfluidics and spectroscopy; both of which are currently being used for single cell studies. I have also recently designed a genetically-encoded sensor to measure exchangeable haem in live cells using fluorescence lifetime imaging.

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Leung, G. C.;  Fung, S. S.;  Gallio, A. E.;  Blore, R.;  Alibhai, D.;  Raven, E. L.; Hudson, A. J., Unravelling the mechanisms controlling heme supply and demand. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021, 118 (22).

Faraj, B. H. A.;  Collard, L.;  Cliffe, R.;  Blount, L. A.;  Lonnen, R.;  Wallis, R.;  Andrew, P. W.; Hudson, A. J., Formation of pre-pore complexes of pneumolysin is accompanied by a decrease in short-range order of lipid molecules throughout vesicle bilayers. Sci Rep 2020, 10 (1), 4585.

Leung, G. C.;  Fung, S. S.;  Dovey, N. R. B.;  Raven, E. L.; Hudson, A. J., Precise determination of heme binding affinity in proteins. Anal Biochem 2019, 572, 45-51.

Fernandez, M. O.;  Thomas, R. J.;  Garton, N. J.;  Hudson, A.;  Haddrell, A.; Reid, J. P., Assessing the airborne survival of bacteria in populations of aerosol droplets with a novel technology. J R Soc Interface 2019, 16 (150), 20180779.

Jobbins, A. M.;  Reichenbach, L. F.;  Lucas, C. M.;  Hudson, A. J.;  Burley, G. A.; Eperon, I. C., The mechanisms of a mammalian splicing enhancer. Nucleic Acids Res 2018, 46 (5), 2145-2158.

Chen, L.;  Weinmeister, R.;  Kralovicova, J.;  Eperon, L. P.;  Vorechovsky, I.;  Hudson, A. J.; Eperon, I. C., Stoichiometries of U2AF35, U2AF65 and U2 snRNP reveal new early spliceosome assembly pathways. Nucleic Acids Res 2017, 45 (4), 2051-2067.

Collard, L.;  Perez-Guaita, D.;  Faraj, B. H. A.;  Wood, B. R.;  Wallis, R.;  Andrew, P. W.; Hudson, A. J., Light Scattering By Optically-Trapped Vesicles Affords Unprecedented Temporal Resolution Of Lipid-Raft Dynamics. Sci Rep 2017, 7 (1), 8589.

Wright, A. J.;  Richens, J. L.;  Bramble, J. P.;  Cathcart, N.;  Kitaev, V.;  O'Shea, P.; Hudson, A. J., Surface-enhanced Raman scattering measurement from a lipid bilayer encapsulating a single decahedral nanoparticle mediated by an optical trap. Nanoscale 2016, 8 (36), 16395-16404.

Weinmeister, R.;  Freeman, E.;  Eperon, I. C.;  Stuart, A. M.; Hudson, A. J., Single-Fluorophore Detection in Femtoliter Droplets Generated by Flow Focusing. ACS Nano 2015, 9 (10), 9718-30.

Almohammedi, A.;  Kapetanaki, S. M.;  Hudson, A. J.; Storey, N. M., Monitoring Changes in the Redox State of Myoglobin in Cardiomyocytes by Raman Spectroscopy Enables the Protective Effect of NO Donors to Be Evaluated. Anal Chem 2015, 87 (20), 10605-12.

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Applications of single molecule fluorescence microscopy
Design of genetically-encoded sensors to detect small molecules in cells
Optical tweezing and microspectroscopy of cells
Mechanistic studies in haem biology
Raman spectroscopic analysis of biopigments 

Physical chemistry component of the BSc MChem and MSc degrees in Chemistry; including topics on thermodynamics kinetics mathematics for chemists molecular symmetry and molecular spectroscopy.

Biophysical measurements; chemical and physical properties of protein and nucleic acids; microscopy and optics; spectroscopic identification of compounds; optical forces.