EastBio Student Cohort 2021

Personal note

Hello, my name is Sanni! I graduated in 2019 with a BSc in Psychology from the University of Aberdeen, and have now returned to the School of Psychology to undertake my PhD. My research project involves investigating multisensory integration in the context of conscious awareness in the injured brain. Specifically, I will use established psychophysics paradigms to map the parameters of audio-visual cue integration and reported conscious awareness, then develop computational models to investigate the underlying neuronal processes involved in cue integration and how this leads to the formation of conscious experience.

In my spare time I relax with knitting, crosswords, and spending time outdoors. I especially enjoy trail walking which is a great way to de-stress!

Awards

Alan B Milne memorial award for best UG Dissertation in Psychology (2019, University of Aberdeen)

Hi, I am Emma! I will be working with the Vervelde group at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh to investigate the immunological mechanisms of in ovo vaccination. In ovo vaccination is a technique that is widely used within the poultry industry to vaccinate chicks during embryonic development (ED18). Despite having been used for over 30 years, there is still a lack of understanding how these vaccine induce an effective immune response within the neonatal chick and so, my project will work closely with MSD-Animal Health to begin to expand this understanding using both in vivo and in vitro models. 

Before starting my PhD I completed an integrated MSci in Veterinary Biosciences at the University of Glasgow. My masters project utilised ELISA techniques to investigate factors which affect antibody responses to Feline Leukemia Virus, with a particular focus on vaccination.

Outside of the lab I enjoy weightlifting, hill-walking and a good coffee with friends!

Personal Note

My PhD project is being supervised by Dr Tom Vogwill at the University of Aberdeen (co-supervisors: UoE's Prof Nick Colegrave and UoA's Prof Stuart Piertney). Together, we plan to utilise a range of techniques to investigate the fitness costs associated with antibiotic resistance, including laboratory microbiology, data synthesis and comparative genomics. The experimental evidence we aim to provide will reveal key missing pieces in our understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms underpinning antibiotic resistance, and the results could both improve the validity of laboratory experiments and inform clinical practice. I’m a Glasgow native, and in 2021 I graduated with an integrated master's degree in microbiology from the University of Glasgow. During my year-long master’s placement at HIPS in Saarbrücken, Germany, I worked with Dr Ronald Garcia to isolate and characterise soil myxobacteria with the aim of identifying novel antimicrobial agents - and I also discovered a novel family of soil bacteria in the phylum Bacteroidetes! When I'm not working hard in the lab, my favourite thing to do is spend the night in watching classic films from the 1930s-60s.

Personal note

I completed my undergraduate studies in Natural Sciences at The University of Cambridge, and an MSc at The University of Edinburgh in Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology where I was a part of the 2021 iGEM team. I am now excited to join the Horsfall group at the University of Edinburgh on an inter-disciplinary project to research biological methods for recovery of rare earth elements from electronic waste (and for biomining purposes). This topic will be crucial for sustainable development in the future as demand for these resources is projected to increase greatly over the coming years. I am on a CASE studentship with industrial partners SEM, hoping to bring my research to reality. Outside of the lab I enjoy running, cycling and exploring the mountains!

SEM

Personal note

Hi! My name is Ella (She/Her) and I will be studying for my PhD in the lab of Dr Alistair McCormick. In my project, I will be trying to express components of the pyrenoid, a really awesome CO2-concentrating mechanism found in a range of algae and hornworts, in rice. The thing I find most interesting in all of Science is chloroplasts, and so I’m really looking forward to getting to research them every day for the next four years! Prior to starting my PhD, I graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA in Natural Sciences, specialising in Plant Science. As part of my degree, I carried out a computational research project looking at the chloroplasts of red algae in the lab of Prof. Howard Griffiths supervised by Dr Indu Santhanagopalan. I have also completed lab placements at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the University of Oxford Department of Plant Sciences. Outside of Science, I’m a massive fan of musicals and I love going to the cinema.

Passionate about the science of the brain from DNA to cognition, with a particular interest in neurogenerative diseases and affective neurobiology. I am enthusiast scientific communicator, eager to constantly learn and expand in knowledge, skills and expertise: from molecules to public health and further beyond. My project looks at pharmacological testing of synthetic retinoids (compounds akin to Vitamin A) as potential neuroregenerative therapies. The project bridges two academic labs, in Aberdeen and Durham, with a scaling up pharma ltd. company - Nevrargenics. The basic science aspect of the project also includes the characterisation of the retinoid receptors necessary for the mechanisms of action of the candidate drugs.

Lorenzo has recently recorded an interview with Dr Mhairi Towler (founder of Vivomotion) that is the second episode for her new podcast: Opportunities in science.

Vivomotion

Opportunities in science podcast

Prior to starting my PhD, I completed a BSc in Animal Therapy and MSc in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law, with both degrees furthering my passion for Equine Welfare. 

Away from research, I spend a vast amount of time with my horses and enjoy hill walking in the beautiful Scottish countryside. 

Prior to this PhD, I completed an Honours degree in Biochemistry at the University of Edinburgh and worked on neutrophil extracellular traps in the Peter Celec Lab at the Institute of Molecular Biomedicine in Bratislava.

In my free time, I like to hike, run, read, compose funky tunes on the piano, and plunge into chatterbox mode with my friends and family.

I have recently started my PhD at the University of Edinburgh, under the supervision of Dr Maddie Moule and Dr Jo Stevens. My project involves the development of three-dimensional co-culture models of bacterial host-pathogen interactions. I hope to be able to use these models, which resemble the pulmonary epithelium, to investigate the genes involved in the dissemination of Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of Melioidosis. This will contribute to our understanding of B. pseudomallei pathogenesis. Prior to this, I completed my BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Bath, where I discovered my interest in infectious diseases and host-pathogen interactions. I have never been to Edinburgh before, so I’m currently spending most of my free time exploring this incredible city!

Personal note

Hi Everyone! I am Abdelazeem and I have just started my PhD in infection medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Our project is collaboration between academia and industry (pharmaceutical companies). I am doing molecular and virology studies on SARS-CoV-2 inhibition using novel compounds that interact with different cyclophilins (human proteins). We think that cyclophilins play a role in SARS-CoV-2 replication. At the same time, I will do protein-protein and protein-drug interactions with those novel drugs and different cyclophilins. We want to know the mechanism by which those drugs suppress viral replication and if this effect is specific to SARS-CoV-2 or if the drugs are inhibitors of all corona viruses. The second important thing is drug safety which we assess using cell culture at the beginning and after than animal studies.

I completed my bachelor of medicine and surgery (MBBCh) at Tanta University in Egypt and ranked 15^th on my class of more than 700 graduates and went on to complete my MSc in biomedical diagnostics at Arizona State University, USA with a GPA of 4.0/4.0. My ambition is to be a clinical scientist and transfer the knowledge that we generate at the bench to the bed side (translation research).

Originally, I am from Egypt. In my free time, I like to go on hikes, wander around the city of Edinburgh and visit historical places. Looking forward to seeing you all.

Prizes, Scholarships and Memberships

2021- Founder and lead educator of Clinical Research School for Arabs(107 lectures) with Egypt Scholars.

Clinical research school program Introduction

2020 Arab Youth Research Prize for the best 1000 young researchers in all disciplines 

Arab Youth Research

• Knowledge Mobilization award 2020 finalist at Arizona State University
• Genomics England invitation to curate gene panel for COVID-19 research
  • COVID-19 research
• Three scholarships by the University of Washington to attend  3 Bioinformatics workshops
• Graduate student prize by Arizona State University to attend ACED 2020 Early detection of Cancer Summer school

2019 - Full scholarship to study MSc (30,000 US Dollars) by Alghurair Foundation for Education - AGFE 2017 - Elected member of Genetics Society London Regional trainer in the Arab and MENA region for Galaxyproject.org International leaders in Genomic Medicine training by NHS England 2016 - Helped more than 80,000 student on socratic.org(Volunteering)

Personal note

Hi everyone! I am Sannie and I just started my PhD in Hetherington Lab - the Molecular Palaeobotany and Evolution Group. My research project is about the evolution and genetic toolkit of phloem with focuses on ferns and gymnosperms. It is an interdisciplinary study combining palaeobiology and comparative omics. Fossils and genomes are two sets of evidence that can reveal evolutionary processes in natural history. With the methodologies of both fields of study, we desire to gain insights into the evolution of phloem and provide fundamental knowledge for answering some unsolved questions in the field of evolution, such as what drove the early diversification and what gave rise to the vascular plants that dominate modern landscapes.

Previously, I completed a Bachelor’s degree in Horticulture at Zhejiang University and an MRes in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation at Imperial College.  In my free time, I enjoy crafting, plant identification and taking part in environmental education and conservation activities.

Hello! I am from Rhode Island in the United States of America and received my BSc in Marine Biology at the University of Rhode Island. I spent three years working as a research assistant in the National Xenopus Resource at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where I utilized CRISPR-cas9 in Xenopus to study models for human disease and the evolution of sex determining mechanisms within the Xenopus genus.

My PhD research with Dr Victoria Sleight at the University of Aberdeen aims to develop CRISPR-cas9 mediated genome-editing protocols in a novel model, Crepidula, to decipher calcium transport mechanisms in biomineralization. Despite having over 80,000 extant species of molluscs, there has been no established model system to study their unique development. Crepidula have proven to be a robust species in laboratory studies since their original contributions to developmental biology in the late 1800’s, and thus are our proposed model for studying shellfish biomineralization. It is largely unknown how calcium is transported through the developing mollusc, and which genes are responsible for then constructing their shells. Moreover, they are an invasive species in the UK, so understanding their developmental processes is crucial for potential remediation.   Outside of research, I enjoy yoga, hiking, and reading as many books as I can get my hands on.