Aline Miller

Early life and education Miller studied Chemistry at the University of Strathclyde and graduated in 1997. She was an undergraduate exchange student at Franklin & Marshall College. After completing her doctorate, Miller moved to New Hall, Cambridge, where she was appointed a Junior Research Fellow and worked with Athene Donald on cellulose. She was inspired to have a career in research during this fellowship.

Research and career Miller joined the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) in 2002. She was made a full Professor in 2014. She explores the relationship between mesoscopic structure, material properties and cell response. She has studied how proteins self-assemble, including what causes them to unfold and form fibril structures. The morphology (roughness, porosity) and mechanical properties (such as Young's modulus and viscosity) can be controlled through self-assembly. She has developed a biocompatible, biodegradable cardiac patch, created from a thick porous scaffold coated with a material that mimics the extracellular matrix. She also studies the degradation mechanism of these materials.

Miller was awarded a small grant from the University of Manchester to develop the synthesis of peptide-based hydrogels. The synthetic peptide hydrogels were so successful that she set up the spin-out company PeptiGelDesign, a group which worked to commercialise hydrogel technologies. Since 2008 PeptiGelDesign have raised over £6 million in funding. The hydrogels can be used to improve the quality of drug toxicity testing, DNA sensing and regenerative medicine.

Awards and honours Her awards and honours include;

1995 University of Strathclyde William Marr Dux Award 1996 University of Strathclyde Dean's Honours Award 1996 University of Strathclyde Hackman Scholarship Research Award 2008 Institute of Physics Polymer Physics Group and American Physical Society Division of Polymer Physics Young Researchers Award 2008 Royal Society of Chemistry Macro Group UK Young Researchers Medal 2014 Philip Leverhulme Prize for Engineering 2014 Finalist for the WISE Campaign Research Award

Personal life Miller is married to Alberto Saiani, a materials scientist at the University of Manchester. They have three children.