Current Members

Dr Stephen Butler - Professor in Synthetic Supramolecular Chemistry

Stephen studied Chemistry at the University of Warwick. He then moved to Sydney to complete a PhD with Prof. Katrina Jolliffe, focusing on synthesising cyclic peptides for the supramolecular sensing of biologically relevant anions. In 2010, he joined Prof. Richard Payne’s group at Sydney as a PDRA, developing synthetic peptides to study chemokine-receptor interactions. In 2011, he returned to the UK to work with Prof. David Parker FRS at Durham University, developing emissive lanthanide complexes for cellular imaging, and was awarded a Ramsay Memorial Fellowship in 2013 to develop fluorescent molecular probes for ATP detection.

Stephen joined Loughborough University as a Lecturer in 2015 and was promoted to Professor of Synthetic Supramolecular Chemistry in 2025. His group develops luminescent lanthanide probes that selectively bind anions to monitor enzymatic reactions and image biochemical processes. Their work has established design principles that combine metal-ligand coordination, hydrogen bonding, and π–π interactions for selective anion recognition. This understanding is being applied to challenges in drug discovery and biomedical research. Stephen received the 2023 RSC Bob Hay Lectureship and the 2021 Thieme Chemistry Journals Award for his contributions to supramolecular probe development.

Postdoctoral Researchers

Christy Siu

Christy grew up in Auckland, New Zealand, and completed both her BSc (Hons) and PhD at the University of Auckland under Distinguished Professor Dame Margaret Brimble. In her BSc (Hons), she worked towards novel, allosteric inhibitors of the menaquinone pathway in M. tuberculosis, and during her PhD, she worked on exploring scaffolds towards eco-friendly, antifouling compounds. She enjoys running in her spare time, and recently relocated to Loughborough in January 2024 in an effort to develop ratiometric lanthanide-containing probes.

Dom Howes

Dom graduated from his MChem at Loughborough University in 2021 with first class honours. In his Masters year he worked with Dr Iain Wright using DFT to investigate structure-property relationships of oligofurans and oligothiophenes. His PhD was under the supervision of Prof. Stephen Butler at Loughborough where the project was focussed on the synthesis and photophysical characterisation of chiral Eu(III) complexes for the selective sensing of phosphate and AMP using total emission and CPL. In Jan 2025, He became a PDRA within the group, becoming the lead synthetic chemist on an 3 year EPSRC funded project. The research includes the synthesis of Eu(III) complexes for the detection of chemical warfare agents and their incorporation into a handheld device, creating a ‘Portable Luminescent Chemical Compass’ (EP/Z000769/1).

PhD Students

Kate Jones (2022-2025)

Kate was born in Salford, Manchester and completed her MChem in Chemistry at Manchester Metropolitan University, graduating in 2020. For her final year project, Kate worked on synthesising models of Amavadin, to better understand the biological function of the complex within the funghi, Amanita Muscaria. During her time at MMU, Kate enjoyed competing in Trampolining, running the Chemistry Society and also carrying out a summer research project under Dr Mark McLaughlin. After graduating, she worked at Reckitt's as an analytical assistant on the brand Mucinex, focusing on the analysis of novel dosing formats using HPLC methods. Kate began her PhD at Loughborough in October 2022 to develop existing MRI contrast agents, with pH responsive polymers.

Alex Frost (2022-2025)

Alex grew up in Cambridge and completed her BSc in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Huddersfield in 2017, followed by her MRes in Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Science at Nottingham Trent University in 2018. She worked with Dr Chris Garner on her project focussing on the synthesis of an α-substituted BODIPY label for organophosphate induced delayed neuropathy binding site target identification. Alex then spent 4 years in industry, notably as the Site Process Chemist at polyurethane foam manufacturer, Recticel Ltd, before joining the Butler group at Loughborough University in October 2022. Her PhD project aims to develop lanthanide tags for new protein conjugation methods to study protein-protein interactions by optical and paramagnetic NMR spectroscopy.

Anthony Owusu-Darko (2023-2026)

Anthony is a multidisciplinary scientist who hails from Ghana. He embarked on his academic journey by earning his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) (2019) where he worked with Dr Alexander Kwarteng studying the frequency of acute filarial attacks among lymphedema patients under the African Research Network for Tropical Neglected Diseases. Anthony furthered his academic pursuits by graduating with distinction in MSc. Analytical Chemistry from Loughborough University (2021). His MSc. project was about flow electrochemical sensors for the detection of analytes under the supervision of Dr Mark Platt. Upon completion of his master’s degree, Anthony worked with Figura analytics to improve and send to market their innovative nanopore sensing technology used in characterisation of particles in a range of solutions. Anthony began his PhD in Loughborough University (October, 2023) to develop an array based multi analyte sensor using responsive polymer probes embedded in hydrogels under the supervision of Dr Helen Willcock, Dr Stephen Butler and Dr Russell Lock.

Lea Fritz (2023-2026)

Lea grew up near the city of Münster, Germany, before moving to the UK for her M.Sci in Natural Sciences at Loughborough University, which she completed in 2023. Her Bachelor’s project in the group of Prof Paul Roach focused on the development of photocleavable self-assembled monolayers controlling cell attachment to surfaces, while her Master’s project in the group of Prof Roach in collaboration with Dr Marc Kimber was based around synthesising and testing a novel Tröger’s base analogue for the treatment of Glioblastoma Multiforme. Lea also completed an internship in the R&D department of Reckitt during her degree, working on their market-leading “Finish” dishwashing detergents. She started her PhD in the Butler group in October 2023, developing lanthanide-based probes capable of selectively detecting phosphate in aqueous environments as part of the EcoSENSE research cluster.

Maryam Salehi (2024-2027)

Maryam was born in Iran, and graduated from Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences with a PharmD in 2020. In her thesis project, Maryam designed, synthesized, and evaluated novel oxadiazole analogs as dual Fatty acid amide hydrolase and soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitors.
Before moving to the UK and returning to academia, she worked as a hospital responsible pharmacist in the main trauma center in her hometown in Iran. Maryam began her PhD at Loughborough University in July 2024, in which she aims to design and synthesize capped lanthanide complexes for selective anion recognition.

Erin Robertson (2024-2027)

Erin was born in Lincolnshire and completed her MChem at Loughborough University, graduating with a First Class in 2020. For her final year project, Erin worked on assessing a family of europium based probes designed to selectively bind and discriminate between phosphate ions. She was awarded the MChem Project Prize and published her work. Since graduating, Erin gained a PGCE with Qualified Teacher Status and taught at a school in Grantham before deciding to return to academia. Erin began her PhD at Loughborough University in October 2024 to study selective tagging of peptides and proteins, and to sense phosphorylation events in real-time.

Tara Atkins (2025-2028)

Tara grew up in Walsall, West Midlands before moving to London to complete her MSci in Chemistry at King's College London, graduating in 2025. During her masters year, she worked under the supervision of Dr Adam Sedgwick focusing on developing and synthesising a novel platform of BODIPY-based dyes for use in cell biology. Through her work on the project, she was nominated for and was awarded the Layton Science Research Award by the faculty. Tara began her PhD at Loughborough University in July 2025 to develop ratiometric luminescent sensors for biological anions, for the purpose of monitoring biological processes in real-time.

Rebecca Tiffany (2025-2028)

Rebecca grew up in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire and completed her MSci in Medicinal and Biological Chemistry at the University of Nottingham, graduating with a first class in 2025. During her time at Nottingham, she was awarded an RSC bursary to complete a summer project under the supervision of Dr Peter Harvey. This project was continued during her final year, and focused on synthesizing and screening transition metal complexes for use as pH sensitive MRI contrast agents. Rebecca started her PhD in July 2025 focusing on the development of luminescent and MR imaging probes for detecting reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in biological samples.