About us

The SMALP network is an open forum initiated by the international research community. We are developing and using amphipathic copolymers as alternatives to conventional detergents, which tend to dissociate, destabilize and deactivate native membrane proteins. Amphipathic polymers including SMA have been found to directly and spontaneously solubilize proteins and bound lipids from membranes when activated. This provides opportunities for understanding and exploiting the structure and function of native membrane protein complexes. We aim to make these polymers available to the research communicate and share ways in which they can be used.

Founding Directors

Michael Overduin, Professor, Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Canada

Tim Knowles, Lecturer in Biophysics, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, UK

Tim Dafforn, Professor, School of Biosciences
University of Birmingham

SMALP Network co-Directors

Alice Rothnie, Senior Lecturer, School of Biosciences Biosciences Research Group, College of Health and Life Sciences, Aston University

Bert Klumperman, South African Research Chair in Advanced Macromolecular Architectures at the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science at Stellenbosch University

Barry Bruce, Charles P. Postelle Distinguished Professor, Dept. Microbiology; Dept. Biomolecular and Chemical Eng., University of Knoxville, Tennessee

Frank Sobott, ,Chair in Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, University of Leeds

Naomi Pollock, Lecturer in Biosciences, School of Biosciences College of Health and Life Sciences, Aston University

Stephen Muench, Lecturer in Membrane Biology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Leeds

Tomas Laursen, Assistant Professor, Section for Plant Biochemsitry, University of Copenhagen

Youzhong Guo, Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Our co-directors are asked to serve 5 year terms to help with the growth of the SMALP community and the dissemination of technologies related to SMA and native nanodiscs.

We are grateful to the international community of users and developers of the SMALP system, as well as the funders including the Royal Society, BBSRC, Alberta Innovates, NSERC and the European Commission.

We look forward to offering meetings, protocols, and facilities for SMALP methods to support your research plans and efforts.

We welcome opportunities for setting up collaborative projects and consortia.

This year we are developing a SMALP Industry Club with our sponsors and supporters to facilitate the commercialization of new polymers, kits, assays and analytical equipment for your research needs and applications.

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