Dr Liam Wilson
- Research Associate (School of Chemistry)
Biography
Liam is an early-career researcher focused on the development of functional organic molecules for application in biosensing and biological imaging. Liam is a former College of Science and Engineering Research Fellow, supported by the University of Glasgow, and in January 2026 will commence a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship.
Liam completed his Masters degree in 2016 at the University of St Andrews. During his time there he completed a research project on "The Asymmetric Total Synthesis of the Natural Product Descurainolide A", under the supervision of Prof Nicholas Westwood. In late 2021 Liam earned a PhD from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, where he developed "Small Molecule Probes for Biological Raman Imaging", with Prof Nicholas C. O. Tomkinson. In early 2022, Liam moved to UofG, to work on the development of array based sensors for the diagnosis of liver disease, led by Dr William Peveler.
Research interests
We're interested in designing and synthesizing functional organic molecules which generate a fluorescent signal when they interact with biological molecules like proteins or metabolites. These "molecular machines" can be used to provide insight into biological mechanisms, or to develop new methods of diagnosing disease.
Specific projects include:
- Using synthetic receptors to detect and differentiate steroidal molecules in human serum, and diagnose severe liver disease.
- Using chemical amplification to enable ultrasensitive fluorescent detection of disease biomarker proteins.
- Using functional chimeras to selectively add fluorescent labels to cellular proteins, enabling imaging without prior genetic manipulation.