Dr David Alexander Gregory (he/him)

PhD, MSc, BSc, BSc, FHEA

School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering

Lecturer

Dr David Alexander Gregory
Profile picture of Dr David Alexander Gregory
d.a.gregory@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 7504
F56, Sir Robert Hadfield Building

Full contact details

Dr David Alexander Gregory
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
F56
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Profile

David joined the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE) in 2023 as a Lecturer. His research is focused on the development of sensing devices for a wide variety of applications including process, medical, and environmental monitoring challenges. An important component of this work is the development of new technologies that enable the fabrication of these devices. Recently, together with collaborators Jonathan Foster (Chemistry) and Patrick Smith (Mechanical Engineering), David has begun developing Reactive Inkjet Printing (RIJ) for multivariate metal organic framework (MOF) gradients, which is hoped can be utilised for advanced sensors.

David has had a fundamental role in the development of RIJ. In the course of this work he designed, built and developed different Reactive Inkjet Printers including both hardware and software, while he has also developed several modifications to existing printing systems to help promote his research. He remains keen to further expand the development of novel printing technologies.

Further to this David is CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in , which promises to become a spin off next year, and is focused on the sustainable production of biocompatible, biodegradable polymers produced via bacterial fermentation. The PHAsT team has recently successfully conducted 100L fermentations with exceptionally high polymer yields at the University of Cambridge facilities, as showcased on their . 

David has also gained work experience in the pharmaceutical industry at and in Germany, working in the Departments of Medicinal Chemistry, Enzyme Research, and Drug Formulation Development.

Prior to his present position, he was senior postdoctoral research associate (PDRA) to Prof Roy in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at Sheffield University. This post involved the production of natural polymers via bacterial fermentation for biomedical applications as well as the optimisation and development of novel additive manufacturing processes for material processing and tissue scaffold development. In one of the projects multi-material cardiac patches were successfully developed that are currently being tested in vivo. 

Having completed undergraduate degrees in Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology at and Biochemistry and Music at David went on to study a Masters in Bionanotechnology run jointly between the University of Sheffield and . He then joined the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering for his PhD on catalytic micromotors, under the supervision of Dr Ebbens, which he completed in 2016. 

During this time, David was key for the development of RIJ and enzyme powered silk microrockets, which gained considerable media interest and resulted in several high-quality publications and has consequently resulted in him being invited to speak at several national and international conferences. 

Thereafter, he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in CBE further developing his work on RIJ of silk materials, which also resulted in the award of two research grants to his PIs, before he moved as senior PDRA to the MSE Department.

Research interests

David is interested in developing novel multidisciplinary projects targeted toward biosensor, bioelectronic, biomedical, regenerative medicine and industrial applications (e.g. process monitoring).

Keywords:

  • Sensors / Biosensors
  • Raman spectroscopy as a sensing tool
  • Additive Manufacturing / 3D Printing
  • Reactive Inkjet Printing (RIJ)
  • Design and development of complex printing systems
  • Biomaterials
  • Tissue engineering / 3D scaffolds
  • Drug delivery
  • Bioelectronics
  • Active colloids / micromotors
Publications

Journal articles

  • Asare E, Azimi B, Vasili E, Gregory DA, Raut M, Taylor CS, Linari S, Danti S & Roy I (2025) . Macromolecular Materials and Engineering, 310(9).
  • Gao W, Cheng Z, Gregory DA, Knight AJ, Tartakovskii AI, Rodenburg C, Farr NTH & Claeyssens F (2025) . Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 700(Part 3).
  • Syed Mohamed SMD, Tuffin J, Watson J, Mele A, Fricker A, Gregory DA, Elghazy E, Saleem MA, Satchell SC, Welsh GI & Roy I (2025) . Materials Today Bio, 33, 101932-101932.
  • Asare E, Azimi B, Vasili E, Gregory DA, Raut M, Taylor CS, Linari S, Danti S & Roy I (2025) . Macromolecular Materials and Engineering.
  • Vasili E, Azimi B, Raut MP, Gregory DA, Mele A, Liu B, R繹mhild K, Krieg M, Claeyssens F, Cinelli P , Roy I et al (2025) . Polymers, 17(9).
  • Inaba T, Archer RJ, Gregory DA & Nomura SM (2025) . Advanced Materials Interfaces, 12(11).
  • Farr NTH, Gregory DA, Workman VL, Rauert C, Roman S, Knight AJ, Bullock AJ, Tartakovskii AI, Thomas KV, Chapple CR , Deprest J et al (2024) . Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 160.
  • Sun W, Taylor CS, Gao Z, Gregory DA, Haycock JW & Zhao X (2024) . International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 278, 134774-134774.
  • Taylor CS, Barnes J, Koduri M, Haq S, Gregory DA, Roy I, D'Sa RA, Curran J & Haycock JW (2023) . Macromolecular Bioscience, 23(11).
  • Gregory DA, Nicks J, ArtigasArnaudas J, Harris MS, Foster JA & Smith PJ (2023) . Advanced Materials Interfaces, 10(12).
  • Taylor CS, Behbehani M, Glen A, Basnett P, Gregory DA, Lukasiewicz BB, Nigmatullin R, Claeyssens F, Roy I & Haycock JW (2023) . ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 9(3), 1472-1485.
  • Sun W, Gregory DA & Zhao X (2023) . Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, 314, 102866-102866.
  • Gregory DA, Fricker ATR, Mitrev P, Ray M, Asare E, Sim D, Larpnimitchai S, Zhang Z, Ma J, Tetali SSV & Roy I (2023) . Journal of Functional Biomaterials, 14(1).
  • Gregory DA, Taylor CS, Fricker ATR, Asare E, Tetali SSV, Haycock JW & Roy I (2022) . Trends in Molecular Medicine, 28(4), 331-342.
  • Kumar P, Legge A, Gregory DA, Nichols A, Jensen H, Ebbens SJ & Zhao X (2022) . JCIS Open, 5.
  • Sun W, Taylor CS, Zhang Y, Gregory DA, Tomeh MA, Haycock JW, Smith PJ, Wang F, Xia Q & Zhao X (2021) . Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 603, 380-390.
  • Kirvin A, Gregory D, Parnell A, Campbell AI & Ebbens S (2021) . Materials Advances, 2(21), 7045-7053.
  • Gregory DA, Tripathi L, Fricker ATR, Asare E, Orlando I, Raghavendran V & Roy I (2021) . Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports, 145.
  • Owji N, Mandakhbayar N, Gregory DA, Marcello E, Kim HW, Roy I & Knowles JC (2021) . Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 9.
  • Sun W, Gregory DA, Tomeh MA & Zhao X (2021) . International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(3).
  • Sun W, Zhang Y, Gregory DA, Jimenez-Franco A, Tomeh MA, Lv S, Wang J, Haycock JW, Lu JR & Zhao X (2020) . Progress in Natural Science: Materials International, 30(5), 686-696.
  • Majid QA, Fricker ATR, Gregory DA, Davidenko N, Hernandez Cruz O, Jabbour RJ, Owen TJ, Basnett P, Lukasiewicz B, Stevens M , Best S et al (2020) . Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 7.
  • Gregory DA, Kumar P, Jimenez-Franco A, Zhang Y, Zhang Y, Ebbens SJ & Zhao X (2019) . Journal of Visualized Experiments(146).
  • Zhang Y, Gregory DA, Zhang Y, Smith PJ, Ebbens SJ & Zhao X (2019) . Small, 15(1).
  • Song W, Gregory DA, Al-Janabi H, Muthana M, Cai Z & Zhao X (2019) . International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 555, 322-336.
  • Song W, Su X, Gregory DA, Li W, Cai Z & Zhao X (2018) . Nanomaterials, 8(11).
  • Ebbens SJ & Gregory DA (2018) . Accounts of Chemical Research, 51(9), 1931-1939.
  • Gregory DA & Ebbens SJ (2018) . Langmuir, 34(14), 4307-4313.
  • Gregory DA, Zhang Y, Smith PJ, Zhao X & Ebbens SJ (2016) . Small, 12(30), 4048-4055.
  • Gregory DA, Campbell AI & Ebbens SJ (2015) . Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 119(27), 15339-15348.
  • Ebbens SJ, Gregory DA, Dunderdale G, Howse JR, Ibrahim Y, Liverpool TB & Golestanian R (2014) . EPL (Europhysics Letters), 106(5).
  • Gregory DA, Kumar P, Jimenez-Franco A, Zhang Y, Zhang Y, Ebbens SJ & Zhao X () . Journal of Visualized Experiments(146).
  • Gregory DA, Zhang Y, Smith PJ, Ebbens SJ & Zhao X () . NIP & Digital Fabrication Conference, 32(1), 452-456.

Book chapters

  • Asare E, Gregory DA, Fricker A, Marcello E, Paxinou A, Taylor CS, Haycock JW & Roy I (2020) , The Handbook of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (pp. 255-284). CRC Press
  • Ebbens S, Howse J, Archer R, Gregory D, Campbell A & Dunderdale G (2017) , Soft, Hard, and Hybrid Janus Structures (pp. 315-403). WORLD SCIENTIFIC (EUROPE)
  • Gregory DA, Zhang Y, Ebbens SJ & Zhao X (2017) , Smart Materials Series (pp. 169-201). Royal Society of Chemistry

Conference proceedings

  • Asare E, Taylor CS, Gregory DA & Roy I (2023) BIOINSPIRED NERVE GUIDANCE CONDUITS FOR OPTIMAL NERVE REGENERATION USING POLYHYDROXYALKANOATES. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Vol. 29(11-12) (pp 1404-1404)
  • Gregory DA, Fricke A, Hanson R, Crawford A & Roy I (2023) Tissue repair with multimaterial biomedical devices fabricated from sustainable biopolymers. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Vol. 29(13-14)
  • Jimenez-Franco A, Gregory DA, Roy I & Cordiner J (2023) Drop-on-demand micropatterning of novel amphiphilic peptide I3K on regenerated silk fibroin substrates to guide and promote adhesion and proliferation of neuronal cells. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Vol. 29(13-14)
  • Gregory DA, Fricker A, Hanson R, Crawford A & Roy I (2023) Tissue repair with multimaterial biomedical devices fabricated from sustainable biopolymers. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Vol. 29(13-14)
  • Jimenez-Franco A, Gregory DA, Roy I & Cordiner J (2023) Drop-on-demand micropatterning of novel amphiphilic peptide I3K on regenerated silk fibroin substrates to guide and promote adhesion and proliferation of neuronal cells. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Vol. 29(13-14)
  • Fricker ATR, Gregory DA, Harding S & Roy I (2022) TISSUE ENGINEERED CARDIAC PATCHES FOR THE TREATMENT OF POST-MI HEART FAILURE USING NATURAL POLYMERS AND HUMAN IPSC-DERIVED CELLS. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Vol. 28 (pp S260-S261)
  • Asare E, Taylor CS, Gregory DA, Haycock JW & Roy I (2022) A NEXT GENERATION BIO-INSPIRED DEVICE FOR EFFECTIVE PERIPHERAL NERVE REGENERATION. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Vol. 28 (pp S293-S294)
  • Gregory DA, Fricker A, Asare E & Roy I (2022) 3D PRINTING OF POLYHYDROXYALKANOATES FOR CELL CULTURE AND TISSUE REPAIR APPLICATIONS. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Vol. 28 (pp S94-S94)
  • Taylor CS, Chen R, Gregory D, Curran J & Haycock JW (2022) AMINE MODIFIED POLYCAPROLACTONE SCAFFOLDS FOR PERIPHERAL NERVE REPAIR. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Vol. 28 (pp S337-S337)
  • Roy I, Dubey P, Majid Q, Fricker A, Gregory D, Grigsby C, Stevens MM, Terracciano C & Harding SE (2022) POLYHYDROXYALKANOATES, NATURAL MATERIALS OF BACTERIAL ORIGIN, IDEAL FOR CARDIAC TISSUE ENGINEERING. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Vol. 28 (pp S36-S37)
  • Gregory DA, Zhang Y, Smith PJ, Ebbens SJ & Zhao X (2016) Altering the bubble release of reactive inkjet printed silk micro-rockets. NIP & Digital Fabrication Conference, Vol. 2016 (pp 452-456). Manchester, 12 September 2016 - 12 September 2016.
  • Zhang Y, Gregory DA, Smith PJ & Zhao X (2016) Regenerated silk fibroin as an inkjet printable biomaterial. International Conference on Digital Printing Technologies, Vol. 2016 (pp 406-409). Manchester, 12 September 2016 - 12 September 2016.

Other

  • Gregory DA, Zhang Y, Smith PJ, Zhao X & Ebbens SJ (2016) . Small, 12(30), 4022-4022.

Preprints

  • Song W, Su X, Gregory D, Li W, Cai Z & Zhao X (2018) , MDPI AG.
  • Ebbens S, Gregory DA, Dunderdale G, Howse JR, Ibrahim Y, Liverpool TB & Golestanian R (2013) , arXiv.
Grants
DATESPONSOR

PI/CI/

Named PDRA


 

TITLEFUNDING
March 2023IAA (UKRI)CoI
Production of Polyhydroxyalkanoates for Biomedical applications: Biocompatible, resorbable and sustainable Biomaterials (PoC: Downstream Optimisation and Upstream Scale-up)
瞿48域
March 2023EPSRCR-CoI
Mussel Inspired Chemistry and Bacteria-synthesized Polymers for a Smart Adhesive Drug Eluting Oral Mucosal Patch (EP/X026108/1)
瞿550域
March 2023
2x SURF (Sheffield Undergraduate Research Fellowship)
PIReactive Inkjet Printed Silk Stirrers for Rapid Medical Diagnosis 2x 瞿1,850
Feb 2023Royce (Summer project grant)PIFeasibility of using Fluorescence assays and Raman Spectroscopy for the design of an online monitoring device to measure the concentration of Polyhydroxyalkanoates during bacterial fermentation.瞿3,200
Jan 2023Diamond Light Source (Oxford)CoI
X-ray tomography for 3D bioprinting (MG33034)
Coherence (6 shifts) Diamond Light Source
Sep 2022Diamond Light Source (Oxford)CoIPtycho-tomography for composite 3D printing for Tissue Engineering (MG31646)Coherence (12 shifts) Diamond Light Source
July 2022BBSRCCoIBBSRC Lean Launch Programme (瞿2500 plus 瞿1200 for profession consultancy)瞿3,700
April 2019SURE (Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience)PIInvestigating the collective motion of catalytically active micromotors in 3D printed flow cell designs.瞿2,750
Nov 20193DBioNETNamed PDRAA natural and sustainable biomaterial based 3D model of healthy cardiac tissue.瞿45,740
May 2019SURF (Sheffield Undergraduate Research Fellowship)PISilk/PEG biogels for reactive inkjet printing and 3D tissue engineering for the production of flexible self-motile rockets瞿1,850
May 2019SURF (Sheffield Undergraduate Research Fellowship)PISilk/PEG biogels for reactive inkjet printing and 3D tissue engineering for the production of 3D cell culture scaffolds.瞿1,850

3D BIONET grant: working on the development of Polyhydroxyalkanoates-based 3D Printed tissue repair patches for cardiac tissue applications.

Teaching activities
  • Module Leader - CPE260 Experimental Design
  • BIE103 - Introduction to Bioengineering

Previous teaching:

  • Particle Design and Processing, CPE441
  • Structural and Physical Properties of Dental and Bio-materials, MAT6304
Professional activities and memberships

Conference Organisation:

  • Organiser and Initiator of BioSheffield 2022 Conference 

Industrial sponsors:

  • Applikon (Gentinge)
  • Keyence
  • Geneflow
  • Cellink (Bico)
  • SLS
  • Merk
  • Co-Organiser of BioMAT Sheffield 2023 Microsymposium 

Industrial sponsors:

  • Applikon (Gentinge)
  • Merk 

 Journal Guest Editor:

, Journal of Functional Biomaterials, IF 4.8. 

, Polymers, IF 5.0. 

Links