Sarra Takita

Mrs Sarra Takita, BSc, MSc, AFHEA

Email: b5036600@hallam.shu.ac.uk
Research Centre: MERI
Research Group: Biosensors and Electronics Research Group
PhD Thesis Title: Developing ultrasensitive diagnostic platforms for the detection of prostate cancer with high specificity and developing approaches for drug delivery using RNA/DNA-based aptamers
Directors of Studies: Prof David Smith  and Prof Alexei Nabok
Supervisors: Dr. Anna Lishchuk, Dr. Matthew Paul Kitchen and Dr. Magdi Mussa

SUMMARY

Sarra Takita, a renowned biotechnology and pharmacology researcher, develops new analytical and diagnostic platforms for medical and pharmaceutical applications and studies drug discovery and delivery.

She works with MERI and the BMRC as a Sheffield Hallam University PhD candidate. She earned a BSc in Clinical Pharmacy from Tripoli University and an MSc in Biotechnology and Pharmacology from Sheffield Hallam University, UK, in 2017.

Sarra has been an Associate Fellow in Higher Education since 2021. She is a special visiting lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, teaching biosensor technology and applied chemistry. She represents MERI students.

RESEARCH

Sarra Takita’s PhD study uses bioreceptors based on RNA and DNA-based aptamers (synthetic antibodies) to try to find prostate cancer (PCa) early. The present PCa test reduces mortality but has specificity issues, resulting in false positives and negatives. A more reliable diagnostic tool is needed.

PCA3 is a potential biomarker, but commercial tests are expensive and complicated. Our project looks into two ways to sense living things: redox-labeled aptamers for electrochemical sensing and label-free Total Internal Reflective Ellipsometry (TYRE) for optical sensing.

Material characterization methods,, including XPS, Raman, SEM, and AFM, seek to produce a cheap, fast, and easy PCA3 detection system. Furthermore, aptamers’ drug delivery capability opens up new research and treatment approaches.