Group Members
Group Leaders
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| Greg Challis
Professor |
Lona Alkhalaf
Assistant Professor |
Research Fellows
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Alex Mullins
BBSRC Discovery Fellow
(Assistant Professor)
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James Duncan with
Prof J. Lewandowski
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Munro Passmore with
Prof J. Lewandowski
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Lauren Murray
ARC DECRA Fellow
(Monash University)
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Xinyun Jian
with Prof M. Cryle
(Monash University)
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Chuan Huang
with Prof M. Cryle
(Monash University)
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Manasa Bharathwaj
with Prof A. Traven
(Monash University)
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Fang Pang with
Prof J. Lewandowski
and Dr M. Jenner
from Nov 2025
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Adam Hunt
with Prof C. Corre
from Nov 2025
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Afifah Tasnim
with Dr N. Robb
from Nov 2025
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Opal Liu
Research Assistant
(Monash University)
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Linjing Zhao
CSC Research Fellow
from Oct 2025
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PhD / MRes / Honours / Rotation Students
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Afifah Tasnim
with Dr N. Robb
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Adam Hunt
with Prof C. Corre
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Mabilly Cox
PhD Student
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Callum Bullock
PhD Student
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Matt Pledge
PhD Student
with Prof J. Li
(Monash University)
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Emma Coker
PhD student
with J. Lewandowski
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Duong Nguyen
PhD Student
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Jingyu Zhang
PhD Student
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Xiaoqi Ji
PhD student
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Sarah Sonnenberg
PhD Student
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Thuy Nguyen
PhD Student
with Prof M. Cryle
(Monash University)
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Ramani Weerasinghe
PhD student
with Prof M. Cryle
(Monash University)
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Xinyi Zhao
PhD student
(Monash University)
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Izzy Cannard
PhD student
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Undergraduate Project Students
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Winnie Al-Atraqchi
MChem project student
from October 2025
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William Taylor
MChem project student
from October 2025
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Alumni
Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Dr Francisco Barona-Gomez - currently Associate Professor, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Netherlands
Dr Sylvie Lautru - currently Group Leader, Microbiology Department, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell, France
Dr Lijiang Song - currently Associate Professor (Reader), Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK
Dr Xujia Hu - currently Professor, Kunming University of Science and Technology, China
Dr Nadia Kadi - currently Principal R&D Scientist, Pall Corporation, Portsmouth, UK
Dr Christophe Corre - currently Professor of Engineering Biology, School of Life Sciences/Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK
Dr Daniel Oves-Costales - currently Principal Investigator, Department of Microbiology, Fundacion Medina, Spain
Dr Amael Veyron - currently Coordinateur Pédagogique, Médisup, Université Joseph Fourier (Grenoble I), France
Dr Sarah Barry - currently Reader in Chemical Biology, Department of Chemistry, King's College London, UK
Dr Orestis Lazos - currently Associate Director, Avalere Health, Switzerland
Dr Zdenek Kamenik - currently Researcher - Team Leader, Institute of Microbiology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Dr Paulina Sydor - currently Scientific Business Analyst, 7N, Poland
Dr Yuki Inahashi - currently Associate Professor, Ōmura Satoshi Memorial Institute, Kitasato University, Japan
Dr Matias Rey-Corizo - currently a freelance medical writer in Spain
Dr Vincent Poon - currently Head of Biocatalysis at Hypha Discovery, UK
Dr Emzo de Los Santos - currently Principal Scientist (ML NBE), UCB Celltech, UK
Dr Joleen Masschelein - currently Associate Professor, Department of Biology, KU Leuven and Group Leader, Flanders Institute of Biotechnology, Belgium
Dr Matthew Jenner - currently Associate Professor of Biological Mass Spectrometry and UKRI FLF, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK
Dr Slawek Potocki - currently Lecturer, Deparment of Chemistry, University of Wrocław, Poland
Dr Daniel Griffiths - currently Senior Research Fellow Data Analytics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia
Dr Chang-An Geng - currently Professor, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Dr Guowei Wang - currently Lecturer, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
Dr Daniel Zabala-Alvarez - currently Principal Investigator in Drug Discovery, Faes Farma, Spain
Dr Simone Kosol - currently Lecturer, MSB Medical School, Berlin, Germany
Dr Miriam Garcia Rodrigiuez - currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Oviedo, Spain
Dr Yousef Dashti - currently Research Fellow, University of Sydney, Australia
Dr Angelo Gallo - currently Researcher Junior, Department of Chemistry, University of Turin, Italy
Dr Hussain Bhukya - currently INSPIRE Faculty Fellow and Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, IISER Tirupati, India
Dr Chris Fage - currently Group Leader, Department of Microbiology, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell, France
Dr Shanshan Zhou - currently Professor, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Dr Douglas Roberts - currently Chief Scientific Officer, Erebagen Ltd, UK
Dr Helen Smith - currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with Prof Chris Schofield FRS, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, UK
Dr Fang Pang - currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Challis/Alkhalaf group
Dr Jinlian Zhao - currently Engineer, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Dr Zhongke Zhang - currently Assoc Prof, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, China
Dr Fayrouz Elmaddah - currently a Research Fellow with Prof Harold Gross, Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, University of Tuebingen, Germany
Dr Tianjie Yuan - currently Senior Lecturer, College of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, China
Dr Wei Li - currently Assistant Professor, School of Pharmaceutical Science, Kunming Medical University, China
PhD Students
Dr Ola Odulate - currently Science Teacher, Hodgehill School, Birmingham, UK
Dr Anna Stanley-Smith - currently Vice President for Chemistry, Quality Assurance, and IT at Isomerase Therapeutics Ltd, Cambridge, UK
Dr Huaning Zhang - went on to obtain a PhD from the Department of Chemistry, SUNY Stony Brook, USA
Dr Laura Montgomery (nee Walton) - currently Team Leader - Chemistry, Concept Life Sciences, UK
Dr Prakash Patel - currently Mathematical Modeller, Cyprotex, Macclesfield, UK
Dr Stuart Haynes - currently Group Leader - Antibody Discovery, Cancer Research Horizons, Cambridge, UK
Dr Paulina Sydor - went on to become a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Challis Group
Dr Malek Zerikly - currently Director Global In-line Marketing Breast Cancer, Pfizer, Germany
Dr Mansoor Ahmad - currently a Science Teacher at Campion School, UK
Dr Nicolas Malet - currently Head, Global Project Team Office, Sanofi, UK
Dr Lauren Ray - currently Senior Principal Scientist I - Synthetic Biology, Syngenta, UK
Dr Joanna Bicz - currently Research Scientist, Higher Medical University, Poland
Dr Lona Alkhalaf - currently Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK
Dr David Withall - currently Senior Research Scientist: Protecting Crops and the Environment, Rothamsted Research, UK; co-founder of PheroSyn Ltd
Dr Shanshan Zhou - went on to become a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Challis Group
Dr Gideon Idowu - went on to become Senior Lecturer, Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria; currently a school teacher in Sheffield, UK
Dr Jade Ronan (nee Foster) - currently a Science Teacher at Myton School, UK
Dr Daniel Griffiths - went on to become a Research Fellow in the Challis Group at Monash University, Australia
Dr Rebin Salih - currently Lecturer in Molecular Biology, Department of Microbiology, Charmo University, Iraq
Dr Joshua Cartwright - currently Business Development Manager, Warwick Innovations, University of Warwick, UK
Dr Xinyun Jian - currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Challis Group
Dr Richard Gibson - currently Scientist 2 - Analytical Development, Vaxcyte, San Carlos, USA
Dr Rakesh Saroay - currently Analyst, ICE InsureTech, UK
Dr Marianne Costa - currently Microbiologist, Olgram Biotech, Geneva, Switzerland
Dr Christian Hobson - currently Senior Scientist and Head of Chemical Development, Willow Biosciences, San Francisco, USA
Dr Chris Perry - currently a freelance artist (https://www.cjperryart.com/aboutLink opens in a new window)
Dr Alma Svatos - currently Lead Scientist, Downstream Processing, Lonza, UK
Dr Matthew Beech - currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with Prof Chris Schofield FRS, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, UK
Dr Ruby Awodi - currently Lecturer, Chemistry Department, Confluence University of Science and Technology, Nigeria.
Dr Jacob Sargeant - currently Organic Chemistry Teaching Fellow, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK
Dr Ioanna Nakou - currently Business Lead Manager, Isomerase Therapeutics, Cambridge, UK
Dr Fang Pang - went on to become a Research Fellow in the Challis Group
Dr Helen Smith - went on to become an IAS Early Career Fellow in the Challis Group
Dr Jacob Sargeant - currently Organic Chemistry Teaching Fellow, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK
Dr Ioanna Nakou - currently Business Lead Manager, Isomerase Therapeutics, Cambridge, UK
Dr Fang Pang - went on to become a Research Fellow in the Challis Group
Dr Helen Smith - went on to become an IAS Early Career Fellow in the Challis Group
Dr Marlene Rothe - currently Senior Expert Drug Supply, Novartis, Switzerland
Dr Rebecca Clayton - currently Chemistry Project Lead, RxCelerate Ltd, UK
Dr Munro Passmore - currently a Research Fellow in the Challis/Alkhalaf group
Dr Yu Zhang - currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with Prof Christian Hertweck, HKI-Jena, Germany
MRes / Honours Students
Charles Hinchliffe - currently working for the Health and Safety Executive, UK
Thanura Da Silva - currently working at Pascom, Perth, Australia
Project Students
Ursula Wong - currently European Director of Supply Chain & Procurement, Enterprise Holdings, UK
Sarah Hubbard - went on to obtain a PhD with Prof. C. Bertozzi, Department of Chemistry, UC Berkley, USA
Louisa Robinson - currently Senior Research Chemist, Syngenta, Jealotts Hill, UK
Ryan De Vooght Johnson - went to become Purification Analyst at Tripos Discovery Research, UK
Anna Stanley - went on to become a Challis group PhD student
Matt Finerty - went on to obtain a PhD with Prof. M. Shipman, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK
Emma Wynne (nee Morris) - currently Research Scientist, Cancer Research Technology Limited, UK
Laura Walton - went on to become a Challis group PhD student
Nathalie Argentieri
Lianne Bailey
Rob Phayer
Chander Kant - currently an Analyst at Reckitt
Nicolas Malet - went on to become a Challis group PhD student
Charles Manville - went on to obtain a PhD with Prof. M. Wills , Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK
Simon Arbache - went on to become Regulatory Chemist at Amega Sciences PLC
Greg Iacobini - went on to obtain a PhD with Prof. M. Shipman, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK
Dimitrios Bahmpakakis - went on to work at Pfizer
Melanie Whitehead - currently Scientist, Nottingham University Hospitals, UK
Stephanie Brooks - went on to study medicine at the University of Birmingham, UK
Jennifer Stockwell - currently Study Director, Crown Bioscience, UK
Raj Bhalla
David Withall - went on to become a Challis group PhD student
Valerie Yeo - went on to become Development and Process Executive, SIA, Singapore
Rhiannon Howe - currently working for British Land
Josh Cartwright - went on to become a Challis group PhD student
Jade Foster - went on to become a Challis group PhD student
Sam Drane - currently a Process Chemist at AstraZeneca, Macclesfield
Richard Belmega - currently Senior Data Analyst at HM Revenue & Customs
Marianne Costa - went on to become a Challis group PhD student
Chris Perry - went on to become a Challis group PhD student
Sam Kidman - went on to become a PhD student at the University of Cambridge
Matt Beech - went on to become a Challis group PhD student
Panward Prasongpholchai - currently a Research Fellow at the University of Warwick with Dr Fabrizio Alberti
Hannah Pugh - currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Crick Institute
Patrick Capel - currently Innovation Consultant, Innovia Technology, UK
Jacob Sargeant - went on to become a PhD student in the Challis group
Helen Smith - went on to become a PhD student in the Challis group
Daniel Bahia - currently Business Manager and co-founder PheroSyn Ltd
Rebecca Clayton - went on to become a PhD student in the Challis group
Daniel Wicks - currently a Technology Consulting Analyst at Accenture
Caitlin Heffernan - currently New Product Introduction Technologist at GlaxoSmithKline, UK
Kristof Bolhuis - currently a PhD student at University of Southampton with Dr Sam Thompson
Kristof Bolhuis - currently a PhD student at University of Southampton with Dr Sam Thompson
Serban Florea
Alexis Juteau - currently Medical Device Consultant, VIQI Group, France
Stan Green - currently Scientist I, Aptuit, UK
Christina Ramming - currently a Masters student at FAU Erlangen-Nurnberg
Sacha Charlton - currently a PhD student at the University of Bristol with Prof Chris Willis
Valeriia Nadmitova - currently working at Oncologica UK Ltd
Callum Bullock - currently a PhD student in the Challis/Alkhalaf group
Diana Racovita - currently working at Reading Scientific Services Ltd
Shing Liu - currently Data Engineer, Kubrick Group
Thanura Da Silva - went on to be an Honours student in the Challis group at Monash University
Emma Corradini
Amrit Gill - currently studying Natural Sciences at Cambridge University, UK
Kelly To - currently Associate Recruitment Consultant at
Ore Oloke - currently working in the Synthetic Biochemistry Group at GlaxoSmithKline, UK
Pietra Cerqueira-Diaz - currently a PhD student in computational chemistry at Imperial College London
Samitanan Niu
Zhi Yuan Teoh
Opal Liu - currently a Research Assistant in the Challis/Alkhalaf Group
Visitors
Dr Shinya Kodani - Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, Japan
Ms Luisa Laureti - PhD student, Universite Henri Poincare, France
Ms Sylwia Bialek - PhD student, Leiden University, Netherlands
Dr Olapeju Aiyelaagbe - Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Ms Carol Amaya Viviana Gomez - PhD student, University of Granada, Spain
Dr Peter Rutledge - Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, University of Sydney
Ms Joleen Masschelein - PhD student, KU Leuven, Belgium
Dr Irina Khilyas - Assistant Professor, Kazan Federal University, Russia
Ms Felaine Sumang - Research Associate, University of the Philippines
Ms Keeley Miller - BSc student, Monash University, Australia
Ms Nesrine Bali - MSc student, Aix-Marseille Université, France
Ms Barbara Terlouw - PhD student, Wageningen University, Netherlands
Ms Nathalie Carbonara - undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, Canada
Mr Zhijie Yang - PhD student DTU, Denmark
Ms Sarah Sonnenberg - MSc Student, TU Dresden, Germany
Ms Aruzhan Bekbolatova - undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, Canada