People

Group Leader

• PhD with Hugh Pelham, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge.
• Lucille P. Markey Visiting Fellow, working with Andrew Murray, UCSF.  
• Wellcome Trust RCDF, ICMB, University of Edinburgh.
• Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow, ICB, University of Edinburgh.
• Professor of Molecular Genetics.

Thom joined the Hardwick lab in 2020 as a Wellcome Trust iCM PhD student, jointly supervised by Kevin Hardwick and JP Arulanandam, and continues as a postdoctoral research associate.   His focus is on characterisation of key catalytic components of the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint in the pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans, and the exploration of the role of these factors in the unique titan cell morphotype. Outside of the lab, he enjoys hiking and landscape sketching, science-fiction literature, and pointing at shiny things with his daughter and saying ‘wow’.  

Taylor completed her PhD in 2025 at the University of Queensland, Australia where she focused on identifying novel antifungal targets in the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans.

She joined the Hardwick lab in 2025 as a postdoctoral research associate. Her focus is on the structure and regulation of the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) in C. neoformans, with the goal of targeting this key cell cycle regulator for the development of new therapeutics.

Outside the lab she enjoys hiking and walking, visiting old and historic places, and ordering too much food at restaurants.

Hashim completed his PhD on Magnesium transporters in Magnaporthe oryzae, a plant pathogen, from the MS University of Baroda with Professors Manjrekar and Chattoo. He then moved to JNCASR, Bengaluru, for postdoctoral work in the lab of Prof. Sanyal, where he studied various aspects of cell cycle regulation in several pathogenic and non-pathogenic yeasts. He is interested in fungal cell biology, organellar crosstalk, and the evolution of spindle pole body (SPB). In the Hardwick lab, he is investigating the mechanism of kinetochore and SPB clustering in the human fungal pathogen, Cryptococcus neoformans.

Out of the lab, Hashim enjoys playing badminton and football. He loves cooking and occasionally spends some time doing photography.

Louise is a 2nd year PhD student co-supervised by Kevin Hardwick and Georg Kustatscher as part of the Wellcome Trust iCM programme. Her work focuses on using proteomics to study the various morphotypes Cryptococcus neoformans forms under host conditions and aiding in the characterisation of the C. neoformans proteome.

Outside of the lab she enjoys running, going to the gym, cooking and any activity where she can be creative. 

Wulfrun first joined the lab in 2023 for her undergraduate honors project, during which she studied the checkpoint protein Mad1. Following her MPhil with Prof Jonathan Higgins in Newcastle, studying chromosome regulation during mitosis, she returned to the Hardwick lab in 2025 as a Research Assistant. She will soon be returning to her research on Mad1 for her PhD, as well as investigating cryptococcal titan cells. Outside the lab Wulfrun loves theatre and art, and takes every opportunity to walk up hills in the Highlands and beyond!

Steffin is currently working as a Research Assistant in the Hardwick lab. Her focus is on studying components of the C. neoformans spindle checkpoint arrest. She will soon start her PhD in the lab where she looks forward to working on the role of kinases in mitosis.

Outside of the lab she enjoys watching movies, doing anything artistic such as making clay models, sketching, singing, painting and dancing!