Tim Woodman Senior Instrument Specialist - Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Tim is a Senior NMR Spectroscopist with over 24 years experience in the field. In addition, he has wide experience in synthetic chemistry.
Contact details
t.woodman@bath.ac.uk +44 (0)1225 386778
Role
Tim is a Senior NMR Spectroscopist, and part of the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology (P&P). He is responsible for overseeing the NMR suite catering for the Departments of P&P and Chemical Engineering. In addition to providing training in day-to-day operation for the diverse user base, Tim is available to help with more demanding questions, drawing on his extensive NMR and synthetic chemistry experience.
Tim is also involved in research with Dr M. Lloyd, studying the role of the enzyme AMACR (alpha methyl acyl-CoA racemase) in prostate cancer. The goal has been to develop a biological assay to screen for this crucial enzyme, and this has been successful with a combination of NMR, colourimetric and fluorimetric approaches. Current research is investigating the use of deuterium labelled molecules to model drug permeation in skin, and also the science of chillies.
Additionally, Tim is the University of Bath Marshal, playing a key role at graduation ceremonies throughout the year.
Publications
Career
After completing his PhD in synthetic organometallic chemistry, Tim took up a Royal Society Fellowship to travel to New Zealand and study osmium chemistry with Prof Warren Roper. He returned to the UK in 1999, as a post-doctoral researcher with Prof Manfred Bochmann. Although NMR has always played a large role in his scientific studies, it was here that Tim developed his passion for the technique. Taking the post of NMR spectroscopist in the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology in 2005 was a leap into the unknown, however he very successfully translated his previous experience to the new application areas of this role, and has established several fruitful research collaborations within the department.
Education
Tim's background is in synthetic organometallic chemistry, a subject he first encountered during his first degree at the University of Warwick. After graduating in 1994, he stayed at Warwick to take a PhD with Gerald Willey, investigating novel ways of synthesising cationic lanthanide and transition metal complexes. Although NMR played the most significant role in Tim's research at this early career stage, he was also exposed to many other important analytical techniques, including single crystal X-ray diffraction, and became highly proficient at chemistry of air sensitive compounds.