Previous Members

Previous Team Members.

Joan Cortada-Garcia

Joan was awarded a BSc from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and a MSc from TU Delft and is currently doing his PhD in real-time metabolomics in Karl Burgess' group in an IBioIC Collaborative Training Partnership (CTP) program in partnership with Ingenza Ltd. 
Joan is always keen on going for an outdoor hike in the scenic Scottish countryside, as well as getting involved in various extracurricular activities. The combination of industrial biotechnology and engineering , together with the large array of possible applications of real-time metabolomics are what Joan enjoys the most about his PhD project.
Joan-Cortada-Garcia-Headshot

Karen McLuskey

Karen obtained her both her undergraduate degree, in Chemistry with Computer Applications, and PhD, in Chemistry, from the University of Glasgow. Under the guidance of Profs. Neil Isaac and Richard Cogdell, Karen’s PhD focussed on the 3D structure of integral membrane proteins. Continuing with this area of research Karen moved to Seattle and the lab of Wim Hol, to work on the structure of proteins from infectious tropical diseases. After Seattle, Karen returned to the UK and over the next 10 years or so worked as a structural biologist focussing on infectious diseases, integral membrane proteins and high throughput methodologies. 
Karen-McLuskey-Headshot

Martina Pičmanová

Martina gained her MSc in Cell and Molecular Plant Biology at the Charles University in Prague, and her PhD in Plant Biochemistry as a Marie Curie Actions Fellow at the University of Copenhagen. In her doctoral studies, in Prof. Birger Møller's group, she focused on the elucidation of a novel turnover pathway for cyanogenic glycosides in crops. Martina joined the University of Edinburgh in 2017 as a postdoc at the Edinburgh Cell Wall Group. In November 2019 she became a member of Karl Burgess' group, working on the metabolomics of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) in biofertilizer formulations and the effect of PGPR on the metabolic profiles of maize crops, in a collaborative project with South African partners. Martina is a great plant and animal lover and an enthusiastic proponent of a whole food plant-based diet. She is also a keen musician and choral singer, and has been involved in a variety of scholarly projects in the humanities.
Martina-Pičmanová-Headshot

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