Oct 2012 - present

PhD: The structure and function of human aquaporin 4 - supervised by Dr. Alex Conner, Prof. Alison Rodger and Prof. Mark Rodger

My research is focused on a human protein, aquaporin-4 (AQP4), found primarily in the brain, which facilitates the movement of water in and out of cells by osmosis, across plasma membranes. I am using biomolecular simulation, molecular biology, live cell fluorescence microscopy and polarised light spectroscopy to try to understand how AQP4 water permeability, subcellular localisation and oligomerisation are determined by its structure, and how these relate to the harmful accumulation of water in the brain following stroke, head trauma and inflammatory disease.

Sep 2011-Sep 2012:

MSc Mathematical Biology and Biophysical Chemistry, University of Warwick (the MOAC MSc)

MSc Miniprojects:

The stucture/function analysis of aquaporin-4 translocation supervised by Dr. Alex Conner (Warwick Medical School)

Modelling mutants of aquaporin 4 supervised by Dr. Rebecca Notman (Centre for Scientific Computing)

Spectroscopic studies of human aquaporin 4 supervised by Prof. Alison Rodger (Chemistry)

2007-2011:

MPhys, University of Warwick

My background is in physics; I graduated from the MPhys program at Warwick with first class honours in 2011. My undergraduate research project was a feasibility study of collaborative research between ultrasound experimentalists and theorists in the Condensed Matter Physics group, entitled Measuring Structural Phase Transitions Using Ultrasonic Techniques.