2025 Cohort

Currently, I am undertaking an academic mini-project exploring the use of cubosome-based systems for cellular mRNA delivery. My work focusses on understanding how formulation parameters affect the transfection efficiency of mRNA using a Design of Experiments (DOE) approach, alongside analysing cellular responses (such as uptake and transfection efficiency) through both conventional methods and machine-learning- based image analysis. This project is supervised by Professor Snow Stolnik and three post-doctoral researchers in the department. 

Prior to joining the CDT, I graduated from the University of York with a degree in Biochemistry, including a year in industry. During my year in industry, I worked at GSK’s R&D site in Stevenage within the Biopharm Process Research department, specifically in the Cell Line Development team. Here I contributed to projects that improved and accelerated the generation of stable, high yielding cell lines for biopharmaceutical production. In my final year, my research focussed on investigating the activity of enzymes related to complex carbohydrates. This project involved bioinformatics analysis, recombinant expression of enzymes in E.coli and subsequent enzyme activity studies. 

When I am not in the lab, I enjoy staying active by playing on a Korfball team, running and hiking in the Peak District as well as relaxing with a good thriller book. 

I graduated from Lancaster University with an MSci in Biochemistry, and I am currently completing my mini academic project under Professor Cameron Alexander and Professor Mischa Zelzer at the University of Nottingham. In this project, I have developed a machine learning model to predict the success rate of novel cationic polymers as vectors for RNA-based therapeutic agents. Cationic polymers offer a more robust and versatile delivery platform compared to traditionally employed adenoviral vectors.

My main interests lie in biologics-based therapies and emerging modalities. I am particularly fascinated by targeted protein degradation (TPD) and its applications in cancer therapeutics. I had the opportunity to explore this field during my master’s project, where I characterised the Auxin-Inducible Degron 2 system in Trypanosoma brucei and evaluated its potential as a molecular tool to investigate dynamic cellular processes such as cell cycle regulation.

In my free time, you can find me in the Peaks, taking scenic walks and enjoying the local culture (and by that, I mean cafes and pubs).

My academic training project currently centres around developing and integrating a quorum sensing signalling molecule (QSSM) database which can be used to help filter mass spectrometry data from biofilms. These biofilms can be both single-species or multi-species and therefore any changes to QSSMs due to drug treatments, for example, can be tracked.

This project is supervised by Dr Rian Griffiths and Dr Anna Kotowska

Before beginning the CDT, I graduated from King’s College London where I completed an Msci degree in biochemistry. My third-year project focussed on the role of a protein (SsLE) on E. coli biofilm maturation whilst my fourth-year project investigated the potential role of the stretch-mediated channel Piezo1 in ATP generation. Outside of the lab and in my free time, I enjoy rock climbing, caving, swimming and playing chess.

My rotation project focuses on developing a machine learning model to predict intestinal lymphatic uptake of drugs. I constructed an SQLite relational database to integrate heterogeneous experimental data, extracted biologically relevant features, and trained a random forest classifier to predict ordinal levels of lymphatic transport. The project is supervised by Dr. Pavel Gershkovich and Dr. Mischa Zelzer (UoN), in collaboration with Dr. Sifei Han (China Pharmaceutical University) and Dr. Laura McCoubrey (GSK).

I graduated with a BSc in Biochemistry from Imperial College London in 2025. My final-year project used molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the sequence determinants of condensate formation in the intrinsically disordered protein YY1. Since joining the CDT, I’ve had many exciting experiences, from attending my first colloquium to festive Christmas socials! The supportive environment within the programme has made the transition from undergraduate study to PhD life much less daunting.

My research training project aims to understand the effects of caffeine on the phenotype of the nematode (roundworm) Caenorhabditis elegans. C. elegans has a similar genetic and molecular makeup to humans, which makes it a useful model organism for studying complex biological processes. Imaging of the nematode is facile, however manual data analysis is arduous and time-consuming. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to accelerate the analysis process, identifying and measuring nematodes at a much faster rate, volume and with greater accuracy than can be achieved with traditional methods.

In this project, nematodes cultured with and without caffeine are imaged and their lengths and widths measured (through manual processing) to understand whether exposure affects these characteristics. The images are fed through a bespoke AI framework which outputs the position, length and width of worms. These outputs are then compared to manual measurements to assess reproducibility. The AI is trained to improve the accuracy of its measurements and prediction of characteristics. The long-term goal of the project is to develop an AI-based pipeline to predict the in vivo performance of compounds, using C. elegans as a model species.

I am conducting this research under the supervision of Dr. Veeren Chauhan and Dr. Maggie Lieu.

I graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2022 with an MSci. in Medicinal and Biological Chemistry with an Assessed Year in Industry.
My industrial placement was based within the In Vitro Discovery Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (DMPK) team at GlaxoSmithKline and my research project sought to develop a bespoke automated metabolic stability assay. My master’s project used LC-MS to characterise the function of putative enzymes derived from the sandfly Lutzomyia longipalpis, which were thought to be implicated in the biosynthesis of the male sandfly’s sex-aggregation pheromone.

I worked as a DMPK scientist at a contract research organisation for 2 years post-graduation. While there, I worked on a variety of projects spanning multiple therapeutic modalities.