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Karen Faulds is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry at the University of Strathclyde and an expert in the development of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and Raman techniques for novel analytical detection strategies and in particular multiplexed bioanalytical applications. She has published over 160 peer-reviewed publications and has filed 5 patents. She has been awarded over £20 M in funding as principal and co-investigator from EPSRC, BBSRC, charities, industry and governmental bodies. Her Group’s research has been recognised through multiple awards including the Nexxus Young Life Scientist of the Year Award (2009), Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Joseph Black Award (2013), Craver Award (2016), Charles Mann Award (2019), Robert Kellner Award Lecture (2021) and RSC Analytical Division Mid-Career Award (2021). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2012), the Society for Applied Spectroscopy (2017) and the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2018). She has been named as one of the Top 50 Women in Analytical Science (2016), Top 10 Spectroscopists (2017) and Top 100 Influential Analytical Scientists (2019) by The Analytical Scientist. She has given over 90 invited talks at national and international conferences.

Karen was elected as the first female and youngest Chair of the Infrared and Raman Discussion Group (IRDG) in 2014 which is the oldest spectroscopic discussion society in the UK. She is an elected member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Analytical Division Council, a member of the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS) Governing Board and a member of the International Steering Committee of the International Conference on Raman Spectroscopy (ICORS). She is the Strathclyde Director of the EPSRC and MRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Optical Medical Imaging joint between the Universities of Edinburgh and Strathclyde; she is an Associate Editor for Analyst and serves on the editorial board of RSC Advances and Analyst and the editorial advisory board for Chemical Society Reviews.

In September 2021, she received the Robert Kellner Lecture Award from the Division of Analytical Chemistry of the European Chemical Societies. Her lecture, entitled “Development of SERS and SESORRS for Multiplexed Bioanalysis”, was presented virtually on September 16, 2021.

The Robert Kellner Lecture Award, sponsored by Springer-Verlag, recognizes a European individual who has made substantial contributions in the last 5 years to the advancement of analytical chemistry research or education. The award was established by the Division of Analytical Chemistry of the European Chemical Societies in memory of the efforts and achievements of Robert Kellner, Vienna University of Technology, in particular towards the consolidation of analytical chemistry in Europe.

Karen Faulds talked about her research, her motivations and herself to Nicola Oberbeckmann-Winter, Managing Editor of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (ABC).

What motivated you to become a researcher and what do you find most rewarding in your professional life?

I think I was always going to be a scientist or an engineer, always wanting to understand how things work. I was one of those (very!) annoying children that asked ‘why?’ constantly! I need to carry out work where what I am doing has a purpose, where my work could have an impact on improving peoples’ lives or environment and this is what made research attractive to me. I have always worked in close collaboration with other scientists, and I have always found it more rewarding to work as part of team where greater challenges can be tackled than what could be achieved individually. Analytical science is a hugely multidisciplinary area of research and I love being able to work with scientists from lots of different disciplines to try and solve problems. This means I am always getting the chance to learn more about different areas of science and challenges through collaborations as well as work with some fantastic people! I also enjoy being part of the analytical community as I think that it is a very energetic and sociable community. I also find it extremely rewarding to have the privilege to get to help train the next generation of early career scientists and I take great pleasure in their achievements.

What is the focus of your award-winning research and what was/is your motivation?

My research involves develo** the technique of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for multiplexed bioanalytical applications. Raman involves directing laser light onto a molecule resulting in the light being scattered with a change in wavelength that is related to the structure of the molecules, providing a molecular fingerprint that can be used for definitive identification. However, Raman scattering is an intrinsically weak process and we use gold and silver nanoparticles to greatly enhance the Raman scattering from molecules absorbed on their surface. Using nanoparticles combined with SERS, we develop bionanosensors for the specific detection of biomarkers related to disease. The main advantages of SERS are the sensitivity and the multiplexing capabilities due to the vibrational fingerprint obtained. We are using this approach for the detection of multiple DNA sequences related to disease, multiple biomarkers that indicate the onset of sepsis, drug induced liver damage and indicators of cardiovascular disease, for the detection and understanding of cancer and drug treatments and for the sensitive detection of whole bacteria in both the healthcare setting and the food industry. These approaches are being developed with a view to point of care detection. We are also develo** the approach of surface-enhanced spatially offset Raman (SESORS) for the detection of disease changes at depth with a view to carrying out measurements at depth, inside the body, for the identification of changes related to cancer and bacterial infection.

My motivation is to be able to develop approaches that will allow earlier detection of disease which will allow faster and more patient-specific medical intervention which will have an impact on patient diagnosis and treatment as well as reducing the cost of healthcare.

From where did you start and how does your current work relate to/differ from your scientific roots?

My PhD was on the detection of drugs of abuse by SERS with a view to being able to carry out rapid workplace or roadside testing. Therefore, my research has always involved the use of SERS but from my postdoc onwards I became more interested in the detection of biomolecules for bioanalytical applications. Originally, this focused on DNA detection but now we detect different types of biomolecules using different bionanosensor approaches with potential for point of use detection. In addition, a main focus of my recent research has been in imaging to understand nanoparticle interactions with cellular models as well as carrying out measurements at depth in tissue models.

What is the trickiest problem you have had to overcome in that research? How did you solve it?

This is a really hard question to answer as research is always about trying to overcome problems, sometimes small and sometimes large, but all of them are hurdles that need to be overcome to allow research projects to move forward! However, a historical issue with SERS was the ability to obtain repeatable and quantitative responses and a lot of my early research focused on trying to achieve this by carefully controlling the components of the analysis system and understanding the surface chemistry and the metal and analyte interaction. Since those early days of SERS, there are a huge amount of researchers around the world working on SERS and quantitation is routinely now achieved.

Where do you consider your field is heading?

Raman and SERS spectroscopy is headed towards being used more routinely as a biomedical tool to understand disease and pathogens. In the future, it will be used for the understanding and diagnosis of disease as well as for monitoring treatment. I also think it will soon move into being used for the development of point of use disease detection as the instrumentation continues to evolve to being miniaturised.

Which recent discovery might prove most valuable to the field of bioanalytical research or beyond?

Again, there is so much great science I could mention here I don’t know where to begin! But for me I am very excited at the advances being made in terms of develo** instruments to be much smaller, more portable and cheaper making them more accessible and amenable to point of use detection. I am also excited by the developments and research into using advanced Raman techniques, such as stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), for label-free imaging at sub-cellular resolution as well as being able to carry out measurements at depths that are starting to progress to where they could be utilized for in vivo measurements one day.

In your opinion, does/did your generation have to respond to the publish or perish “pressure” and what is your advice for young analytical scientists today?

We are always under pressure to publish as unfortunately these are metrics we are judged against for promotion and career progression. However, I have never subscribed to this philosophy in terms of the training of early career scientists, particularly at PhD level. PhD training is not just about producing future academics and publications, although of course it is always desirable for researchers to see their work published, publications are not the be all and end all. The skills that students obtain during their PhDs extend way beyond the number of publications, although they are an easy (and lazy!) metric that can be used for people to assess them! Very few people with PhDs go on to become academics and as academics we need to remember that we are not only training the next generation of academics. Early career researchers can go on to many types of jobs after a PhD or a postdoc and that is due to their versatile training in problem-solving, data analysis, time management, presenting skills, networking skills etc. as well as their subject-specific knowledge. I always try to encourage ECRs to take every opportunity that is offered to them, particularly if it involves getting involved in a conference, giving presentations, meeting new people or going somewhere new. These opportunities will build confidence and make friends and contacts that they will have for life.

And last but not least, talking not only to the researcher: what do you enjoy most when you have time to spare?

In my spare time, my greatest pleasures are travelling, socializing with friends and family and spending time with my dog, Holly, either on long walks or lazing on the couch together! [pictures can be supplied of the cute dog ].

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!