Professor Ken White

Professor Ken White is a Professor of Molecular Biosciences and Head of Research and Knowledge Exchange at the School of Human Sciences.

Photograph of Dr Kenneth White

Dr Kenneth White

Professor White is a graduate in Chemistry from the University of Oxford, where he also completed his DPhil in the Department of Pharmacology. During his doctoral studies he started his lifelong interest in applying chemistry to biological problems. After Oxford he was awarded a Visiting Fellowship to gain post-doctoral research experience at the National Institutes of Health in the USA, where he worked in the lab of Henry Metzger on the cloning of the IgE receptor, a major target of allergy research at the time.

 
During his time at Oxford and in the US he developed an interest in Japanese culture and was awarded one of the first JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) Fellowships to carry out further post-doctoral research, in the laboratory of Tasuku Honjo at the University of Kyoto, where he studied gene regulation of human T-cell leukaemic virus type I (HTLV-1). On his return to the UK he took up his first academic position as Lecturer in Molecular Biology at the then United Medical and Dental schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals, now merged with King's College London. He moved to London Met (University of North London at the time) in 1998 as Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology, he was promoted to Reader in Biosciences in 2011 and to Professor of Molecular Biosciences in 2020.

Professor White has a long-standing interest in iron and health, focussing on molecular mechanisms involved in systemic (whole-body) iron homeostasis. Current interests include the role of ferroxidases in facilitating iron circulation around the body, differentiation of macrophages involved in recycling iron from senescent red blood cells, and development of nanoformulations to treat anaemia.

The last involves recent work on the use of electrohydrodynamic techniques for preparing nanofibers and nanoparticles with biomedical applications.
 
Professor White also has an interest in the identification and characterisation of novel anti-diabetic phytochemicals and their mechanism of action and recently in the molecular pathology of diabetes, in collaboration with colleagues in the Biology group in the School.
 
He also collaborates with colleagues in the Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences group, providing cellular and biomolecular expertise to characterise novel compounds with biomedical diagnostic or therapeutic potential.

Professor White is a module leader of Biomedical Diagnostics BM7042 and Genetic and Genomic Informatics BM7121. He contributes to teaching on Bioinformatics BM7027/ BC6056 and Molecular Modelling BM7120, Fundamentals of Genetics and Genomics BM7122/ BC6055 and Medical Genetics and Genomics at levels 6 and 7.

 

 

 

  • Hassan S, White K, Terry C. “Linking hIAPP misfolding and aggregation with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a structural perspective.” Biosci Rep. 2022 May 27;42(5):BSR20211297. PMID: 35475576; PMCID: PMC9118370.

 

  • Shrestha SC, Ghebremeskel K, White K, Minelli C, Tewfik I, Thapa P, Tewfik S. "Formulation and Characterization of Phytostanol Ester Solid Lipid Nanoparticles for the Management of Hypercholesterolemia: An ex-vivo study” Int J Nanomedicine accepted     
  • Aslan ES, White K, Syed BA, Srai KS, Evans RW.  “Expression of soluble active fluorescently tagged hephaestin in COS and CHO cell lines”  Turkish Journal of Biology 2020
  • Shrestha SC, White K, Minelli C, Tewfik I, Thapa P and Tewfik S. “A perspective on nanomedicine: focus on cardiovascular medicine”, International Journal of Food Nutrition and Public Health, 11,  97-119, 2019.   
  • Kandunuri KK, White K, Smith E. “An overview on the efficacy of herbs used in Ayurvedic formulations for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes”.  International Journal of Herbal Medicine 4, 116-121, 2016.  
  • de Armas E, Escobar A, Faure R, Marrero E, Bligh ASW, Branford-White CJ, White KN. “Stimulation of Interleukin-2 [IL-2] Release by Rhizophora mangle Bark Aqueous Extracts and Its Fractions”. European J Med Plants 15, 1-10, 2016. DOI:10.9734/EJMP/2016/26743 
  • Kazemain H, Yusuf SA, White K, Grimaldi CM.  “NN approach and its comparison with NN-SVM to beta-barrel prediction”. Expert Systems with Applications 61, 203-214, 2016. 
  • Roostaei D, Rezazadeh S, Sharafi S, White K. “Anti-diabetic and Pharmacological Activities of Phytoestrogens”. J Medicinal Plants 15, 2016.  
  • Chen G, Xu Y, Yu D-G, Zhang D, Chatterton N, White K. “Structure-tunable Janus Fibers Fabricated Using Spinnerets with Varying Port Angles” Chem Comm 51, 4623-4626, 2015. 
  • Yu D-G, White K, Chatterton N, Li Y, Lia L, Wang X. “Structural lipid nanoparticles self-assembled from electrospun core-shell polymeric nanocomposites”.  RSC Advances, 5, 9462-9466, 2015. 
  • Kazemian H, Yusuf SA, White K  “Signal peptide discrimination and cleavage site identification using SVM and NN”  Computers in Biology and Medicine 45, 98-110, 2014.  (IF 1.162).
  • Yan J, White K, Yu D-G, Zhao X-Y.  “Sustained-release multiple-component cellulose acetate nanofibers fabricated using a modified coaxial electrospinning process” J Material Sci 49, 538-547 2014. (IF 2.163)
  • Kazemain H, White K, Palmer-Brown D, Yusuf SA.  “Applications of Evolutionary SVM to Prediction of Membrane Alpha-Helices” Expert Systems With Applications 40, 3412-3420, 2013. (IF 2.203)
  • Pan X, Hartley JM, Hartley JA, White KN, Wang Z, Bligh SWA.  “Evodiamine, a dual catalytic inhibitor of type I and II topoisomerases, exhibits enhanced inhibition against camptothecin resistant cells.” Phytomedicine 19, 618-624, 2012. (IF 2.662)
  • Haeri MR, Khalatbari Limaki H, Branford White CJ, White KN “Non-insulin dependent anti-diabetic activity of (2S, 3R, 4S) 4-hydroxyisoleucine of fenugreek(Trigonella foenum graecum)in streptozotocin-induced type I diabetic rats” Phytomedicine 19, 571-574, 2012. (IF 2.662)
  • White KN, Conesa C, Sánchez L,Amini M, Farnaud S, Lorvoralak C, Evans RW. “The transfer of iron between ceruloplasmin and transferrins”.  Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1820, 411-416, 2012. (IF 4.663)
  • Yu D-G, Branford-White C, Bligh SWA, White K, Chatterton NP, Zhu LM (2011) Improving Polymer Nanofiber Quality Using a Modified Co-axial Electrospinning Process. Macromol. Rapid Commun. 32, 744-750, 2011. (IF 4.365)
  • Yu D-G, White K, Yang J-H, Wang X, Qian W, Li Y. “PVP nanofibers prepared using co-axial electrospinning with salt solution as sheath fluid” Materials Letters 67, 78-80, 2012.  (IF 2.117)
  • Yu D-G, Branford-White C, Williams GR, Bligh SWA, White K, Zhu L-M, Chatteron NP “Self-assembled liposomes from amphiphilic electrospun nanofibers” Soft Matter 7, 8239-8247, 2011.  (IF 4.46)
  • Yang Y-C, Crowder J,Wardle N J, Yang L, White K N, Wang Z-T, Bligh S W A “1H-NMR study of monocrotaline and its metabolites in human blood” Food Chem. Toxicol. 49, 2793-2799, 2011. (IF 2.602)
  • Shen X-X, Yu D-G, Zhu L M, Branford-White C, White K, Chatteron N P, “Electrospun diclofenac sodium loaded Eudragit L 100-55 nanofibers for colon-targeted drug delivery" Int. J. Pharmaceut. 408, 200-207, 2011. (IF 2.962)
  • Haeri M R, Izadoost M, Ardekani M R S and White K   “Improved Isolation of 4-Hydroxyisoleucine from Trigonella foenum graecum seeds”. Chem. Nat. Compounds 47, 157-158, 2011. (IF 0.572)
  • Yu D-G, Zhu L-M, Bligh S W A., Branford-White C, and White K N  “Coaxial electrospinning with organic solvent for controlling the size of self-assembled nano-particles” Chem. Commun. 47, 1216 – 1218, 2011. (IF 5.504)
  • Yu D-G, Branford-White C, Chatteron N P, White K, Zhu L M, Shen X X, Nie W “Electrospinning of Concentrated Polymer Solutions”  Macromolecules 43, 10743 – 10746, 2010. (IF 4.539)
  • Yu D-G, Gao L-D, Lu W-Y, Branford-White C, White K, and Zhu L-M  “Multicomponent amorphous nanofibers electrospun from hot aqueous solutions of a poorly soluble drug” Pharm. Res. 27, 2466 - 2477, 2010. (IF 3.933)
  • Xu Y, Zhang Z, Su S, White K N, Bligh S W A, Branford-White C J and Wang Z-T  “Treatment with Qing’E, a Kidney-Invigorating Chinese Herbal Formula, Antagonizes the Estrogen Decline in Ovariectomized Mice” Revujenation Res. 13, 479 - 488, 2010. (IF 4.138)
  • Yu D-G, Shen X-X, Branford-White C, White K, Zhu L-M and Bligh S W A  “Oral fast-dissolving drug delivery membranes prepared from electrospun polyvinylpyrrolidone ultrafine fibers”  Nanotechnology 20, 055104, 2009. (IF 3.317)
  • Haeri M R, Rahbani M, Ardekani M R S and White K N  “The Effect of Fenugreek 4-Hydroxyisoleucine on Liver Function Biomarkers and Glucose in Diabetic and Fructose-fed Rats” Phytother. Res. 23, 61 – 64, 2009. (IF 1.746)
Medicated fibres for treatment of skin - Emerald Fund (2010) £8.7k
Nsp1 protein of SARS-CoV-2 as a target for Covid-19 therapy - LMU (2021) £3.25k
 
Winner Staff Category, Big Idea Challenge 2019 "Soft Iron"
Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology
Member of the Biochemical Society
Section Board Member Biology journal

Visiting Fellowship to Aligarh Muslim University, India April 2019

Professor Kenneth White
Professor of Molecular Biosciences
Head of Research and Knowledge Exchange, School of Human Sciences