Welcome to my page,

This page gives you an bit of an overview about myself and my background/interests. Please feel free to navigate around my subpages to learn about my ongoing research.

I finished my PhD with MOAC in 2018 and have continued on as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the lab of Dr. Nick Waterfield. You may find this page light on my Ph.D. background, but that's because we established a spin-out company (www.nanosyrinx.com) so lots of it is now important IP! Consequently, I currently live a 'dual-life' as the CEO/CSO of the new biotech, and a Research Fellow in the Warwick Medical School.

I finished my Master of Science degree in Mathematical Biology and Biophysical Chemistry with MOAC, and graduated with Merit in January 2015. I began my Ph.D. in October 2014, working with Dr. Nicholas Waterfield (Warwick Medical School) and Dr. Matthew Gibson (Warwick Chemistry). I am using synthetic biology and analytical biophysical chemistry techniques to engineer a natural nano-scale bacterial 'syringes' for drug delivery and bio-nanotechnological applications.

Previously, I graduated from Aberystwyth University in the summer of 2013 with a First Class Honours degree in Biology.

My third year dissertation project was the development of a methodology for exploration of the human lung meta-viriome, attempting to elucidate virological early warning signs ("biomarkers") for sufferers of lung cancer and Chronic Obstructive Pulmondary Disease (COPD); in the lab of Dr. Justin Pachebat and co-supervised by Prof. Luis Mur. More information regarding subsequent research projects can be found on their respective subpages in the ribbon above.

• Best Performance in BSc Biology IBERS Scheme awards - presented by Prof. Wayne Powell of the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University for the highest overall degree grade on my scheme.
• Best Dissertation Project - achieved the highest overall mark for my third year project in the IBERS faculty.
• SET Awards Nomination - nominated for the international Science, Engineering and Technology student of year awards for my dissertation project.

During the course of my masters, 3 eight-week miniprojects in various scientific disciplines were undertaken. My miniprojects can be found in more detail at the links near the top of this page. In brief they are:

1. Experimental Biology - Photorhabdus asymbiotica as a model organism for investigating emerging pathogens.
2. Theoretical Sciences - A bioinformatic analysis of Photorhabdus genomes to understand evolutionary divergence and the adaptations that give rise to pathogenicity.
3. Biophysical Chemistry - Elucidation of structural motifs key to inhibiton of MraY, a potential antibiotic target.

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My other research/academic interests include:

• Synthetic Biology and its applications
• Microbiology
• Bionanotechnology
• Biodefense/ implications of bioterror
• Bioengineering
• Next Gen Sequencing and functional genomics/bioinformatics
• Pathogenicity and Epidemiology

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Within MOAC I am responsible for providing some technical support, ensuring our backups and PCs are running smoothly and I set up all the computers for new starting students. I run a couple of the introductory sessions in the first week for the starting students (introductory computing, mac usage etc.)

I can be emailed if anyone needs help at the address in the right hand panel.

I also demonstrate in a few classes (microbiology, biochemistry, bioinformatics) and teach entry level cellular and molecular biology to MAS students during the introductory chemistry module.

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