Gibson Group: Alice Fayter
Biography
Alice attended Pate's Grammar School in Cheltenham before attending the University of Edinburgh. She graduated from Edinburgh in 2016 with a MChem degree in Biological and Medicinal Chemistry. During her fourth year she undertook a project on proton ordered and disordered high density ice phases at the University of Innsbruck under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Thomas Loerting, where she investigated the physical properties of different ice phases. Her research concluded with two trips to ISIS, Didcot, to analyse neutron diffraction data from multiple samples and submission of a paper.
In September 2016 she joined the Gibson group and began a PhD studying antifreeze proteins and synthetic compounds with IRI activity with the goal of increasing our understanding of their mechanisms of action and how they interact with ice.
Alice is a resident tutor at the University of Warwick, providing pastoral care to first year undergraduate students and assisting with their assimilation into university life.
Research Interests
Alice has a passion for ice physics, particularly in ice formation and growth and the mechanism of compounds that exhibit macromolecular effects on the ice structure. She also has an interest in molecular biology, particularly in the optimisation of protein expression and how proteins, particularly antifreeze proteins (AFPs), can affect cell growth.
Publications
[12] 2020: Alice Fayter, Steven Huband and Matthew I. Gibson, X-ray Diffraction to Probe the Kinetics of Ice Recrystallization Inhibition, The Analyst, accepted.
[11] 2019: Ben Graham, Alice Fayter and Matthew I. Gibson, 'Synthesis of anthracene-conjugates of truncated antifreeze protein sequences. Effect of end-group and photo-controlled dimerization on ice recrystallisation inhibition activity', Biomacromolecules, 20(12), 4611-4621.
[10] 2019: Caroline I. Biggs, Christopher Stubbs, Ben Graham, Alice Fayter, Muhammad Hasan and Matthew I. Gibson, "Mimicking the Ice Recystallization Activity of Biological Macromolecules. When is a New Polymer 'Active'?", Macromolecular Bioscience, 19(7), 1900082.
[9] 2019: Laura E. Wilkins, Muhammad Hasan, Alice Fayter, Caroline Biggs, Marc Walker and Matthew I. Gibson, "Site-specific Conjugation of Antifreeze Proteins onto Polymer-stabilized Nanoparticles", Polymer Chemistry, 10, 2986-2990.
[8] 2018: Daniel E. Mitchell, Alice Fayter, Robert C. Deller, Muhammad Hasan, Jose Gutierrez-Marcos and Matthew I. Gibson, "Ice-Recrystallization Inhibiting Polymers Protect Proteins Against Freeze-Stress and Enable Glycerol-Free Cryostorage", Materials Horizons, 6, 364-368.
[7] 2018: Christopher Stubbs, Laura E. Wilkins, Alice Fayter, Marc Walker and Matthew I. Gibson, "Multivalent Presentation of Ice Recrystallization Inhibiting Polymers on Nanoparticles Retains Activity", Langmuir, 35(23), 7347-7353.
[6] 2018: Alice Fayter, Matthew I. Gibson and Emily R. Draper, "Sub-Zero Temperature Mechanically Stable Low Molecular Weight Hydrogels", Journal of Materials Chemistry B., 6, 7274-7279.
[5] 2018: Muhammad Hasan, Alice Fayter and Matthew I. Gibson, "Ice Recrystallization Inhibiting Polymers Enable Glycerol-Free Cryopreservation of Microorganisms", Biomacromolecules, 19 (8), 3371-3376.
[4] 2018: Ben Graham, Alice Fayter, Judith E. Houston, Rachel C. Evans, Matthew I. Gibson, "Facially Amphipathic Glycopolymers Inhibit Ice Recrystallization", J. Am. Chem. Soc., 140 (17), 5682-5685.
[3] 2017: Caroline I. Biggs, Trisha L. Bailey, Ben Graham, Christopher Stubbs, Alice Fayter, and Matthew I. Gibson, "Polymer Mimics of Biomacromolecular Antifreezes", Nature Communications, 1546.
[2] 2017: Lewis D. Blackman, Spyridon Varlas, Maria C. Arno, Alice Fayter, Matthew I. Gibson, and Rachel K. O'Reilly, "Permeable protein-loaded polymersome cascade nanoreactors by polymerization-induced self-assembly", ACS Macro Letters, 6 (11), 1263-1267.
[1] 2015: Markus Seidl, Alice Fayter, Josef Stern, Gerhard Zifferer & Thomas Loerting. "Shrinking water's no man's land by lifting its low‐temperature boundary", Phys. Rev. B 91, 144201.
Affiliations
Royal Society of Chemistry: Associate Member (AMRSC)
Society for Cryobiology: Student Membership
Biochemical Society: Postgraduate Student Membership
Institute of Physics: Postgraduate Student Membership
Biophysical Society: Postgraduate Student Membership
American Chemical Society: Postgraduate Student Membership
American Physical Society: Postgraduate Student Membership
Conferences Attended
2019:
- 50th British Association of Crystal Growth Annual Conference, London, UK
- Tech Open Air, Berlin, Germany
2018:
- CECAM workshop, Heterogeneous Ice Nucleation: The Ultimate Challenge for Molecular Modelling?, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Cryobiology, Madrid, Spain
- Formulation challenges for traditional and next generation biopharmaceuticals, Manchester, UK
- UK Neutron and Muon Science and User Meeting, Warwick, UK
- Astbury Conversation, Leeds, UK
- Neutrons and Global Challenges: Health and Healthcare, London, UK
2017:
- IOP Low Temperature Techniques, London, UK
- Society of Low Temperature Biology Science Meeting, Cambridge, UK
- 3rd Ice Binding Proteins Conference, Rehovot, Israel
Outreach Work & Writing
"The New Ice Age" - Content written for Laboratory News on my research.
https://www.labnews.co.uk/uncategorized/new-ice-age-22-10-2018/
Presentations
Oral Presentations:
2019:
"Characterisation of the Effects on Ice Morphology and Growth upon Addition of Ice-active Compounds; a Biophysical Study" at 50th British Association of Crystal Growth Annual Conference.
"Understanding Ice-Binding Proteins to aid Development of New Cryoprotective Formulations" at University of Warwick Chemistry Postgraduate Symposium.
2018:
"New polymer formulations for cryostorage of biologics" at BFG Formulation challenges for traditional and next generation biopharmaceuticals conference.
Poster Presentations:
2018:
"Characterization of the Effects on Ice Nucleation, Morphology and Growth upon Addition of Ice-active Compounds: a Biophysical Study" at CECAM workshop, Heterogeneous Ice Nucleation: The Ultimate Challenge for Molecular Modelling?
"Successful Storage and Cryoprotection of Proteins" at the Cryobiology conference
"New polymer formulations for cryostorage of biologics" at BFG Formulation challenges for traditional and next generation biopharmaceuticals conference.
"Translationally Relevant Cryopreservatives for Biological Stabilization" at University of Warwick Chemistry Postgraduate Symposium.
Awards
2018: First Prize for Poster "New polymer formulations for cryostorage of biologics" at BFG Formulation challenges for traditional and next generation biopharmaceuticals conference.
2018: Second Prize for Poster "Translationally Relevant Cryopreservatives for Biological Stabilization" at University of Warwick Chemistry Postgraduate Symposium 2018.
2015: Prestigious Publication Prize (University of Edinburgh). In recognition of the publication of research undertaken during undergraduate studies.
Grants and Bursaries
2019: Conference attendance Bursary awarded by the Materials and Characterization Group of the Institute of Physics to attend the 50th British Association of Crystal Growth Annual Conference.
2018: Travel Bursary awarded by the Knowledge Transfer Network to attend the Formulation challenges for traditional and next generation biopharmaceuticals conference.
Certifications
Education
University of Warwick (2016-2020)
University of Edinburgh (2010-2016)
Address: Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL
email: a.fayter@warwick.ac.uk
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/faytera
ORCID ID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9470-9560