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Professor Kenneth 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.

1. Anderson L R, Noureen E, Collinson S R, Taylor P G, Shearman G C, Rietdorf K, White K N, Chatterton, N P. (2026) “Enhancing the aqueous solubility of hemin at physiological pH through encapsulation within polyvinylpyrrolidone nanofibers.” Int J Pharmaceutics 687 (126396). pp. 1-15. ISSN 0378-5173

2. Kandunuri K K, White K, Gajula R G (2025) “Therapeutic potential of goldenseal root extract on glucose metabolism and weight reduction in diabetic rats.” J Medicinal Plants Studies, 13 (2). pp. 8-17. ISSN 2394-0530

3. Opara E, White K, Uvere PO (2025) “Chemical analyses and therapeutic properties of plant extracts.” Molecules, 30 (3) (610). pp. 1-3. ISSN 1420-3049

4. Kandunuri K K, White K (2025) “A study on the ameliorative effects of goldenseal, goat's rue extracts, and berberine on glucose uptake compared to metformin in a cellular model.” J Pharmacognosy Phytochem 14 (1). pp. 398-409. ISSN 2278-4136

5. Aslan ES, White K, Meral G, Akçay ZN, Altundag A, Gür S, Dokur M, Baktir MA, Batur LK. “An Epigenetic Locus Associated with Loss of Smell in Covid-19” Diagnostics 2024, 14, 2823. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14242823.

6. Eslamkhah S, Aslan ES, Yavaş C, Akçalı N, Batur LK, Abuaisha A, Yildirim AE, Solak M and White KN. “Mpox Virus (MPXV): Comprehensive Analysis of Pandemic Risks, Pathophysiology, Treatments and mRNA Vaccine Development” Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology 2025 Jun;398(6):6143-6163. doi: 10.1007/s00210-024-03649-9. Epub 2025 Jan 8.

7. Haxhiraj M, White K, Terry C. The Role of Fenugreek in the Management of Type 2 Diabetes. Int J Mol Sci. 2024;25(13):6987. Published 2024 Jun 26. doi:10.3390/ijms25136987

8. Terry C, White K, Hassan S, Sevcuka A. “Proteins behaving badly: The role of hIAPP in type 2 diabetes”. Sept 2023 https://researchoutreach.org/community-content/proteins-behaving-badly-role-human-islet-amyloid-polypeptide-hiapp-type-2-diabetes/

9. Aslan ES, Aydin H, Tekin YK, Keles S, White K, Hekim N. “Association between iron metabolism and SARS-CoV-2 infection, determined by ferritin, hephaestin and hypoxia-induced factor-1 alpha levels in COVID-19 patients” Mol Biol Reports 2023 Mar;50(3):2471-2478. doi: 10.1007/s11033-022-08221-3. Epub 2023 Jan 5.

10. Gharehbeglou M, Yazdani S, White K, Haeri MR, Masoumzadeh N. “Atorvastatin Rapidly Reduces Hepatitis B Viral Load in Combination with Tenofovir: A Prospective Clinical Trial.” Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol. 2022 Jul 14;2022:3443813. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/3443813. PMID: 35873362; PMCID: PMC9303483.

11. 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. https://do.org/10.1042/BSR20211297. PMID: 35475576; PMCID: PMC9118370.

12. Sevcuka A, White K, Terry C. “Factors that contribute to hIAPP amyloidosis in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus” Life 12, 583 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/life12040583

13. 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 16, 1977-1992, 2021 https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S276301

14. 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 44, 393-405, 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.3906/biy-2005-39.

15. Shrestha SC, White K, Minelli C, Tewfik I, Thapa P, Tewfik S. “A perspective on nanomedicine: focus on cardiovascular medicine”. International Journal of Food, Nutrition and Public Health 11, 97-119, 2019.

16. 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.

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
kenneth.white@londonmet.ac.uk