CV

Research Interests

I have evolved a principal skillset in biochemistry and structural biology, and I'm particularly interested in bridging in vitro mechanistic study with complementary in vivo descriptions. My expertise lies in characterizing the function, mechanism, and interactions of proteins involved in mitochondrial Fe-S biogenesis to better understand how to externally modulate their activity, with the goal of identifying and advancing new therapeutics for associated diseases. During my doctoral project, I discovered and explored a new therapeutic axis for treating Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA), a rare disease, based on modulating the competition between two proteins (FXN and FDX2) within the core [2Fe-2S] assembly complex. This finding was further confirmed in a Drosophila model of FRDA, and has since been published in Nature. Alongside this, I initiated a project incorporating virtual screening and rational peptide design to identify new therapeutics for FRDA, a project now being succeeded by a postdoctoral researcher in the D'Autreaux lab.

My current research is centered on using C. elegans as a genetically tractable model organism to identify suppressors of mitochondrial dysfunction arising from disrupted Fe-S metabolism.

Education

(2021-2024) Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Structural Biology

University Paris-Saclay, CEA, I2BC (France)

Awards: Highest Rating FARA Flash Talk (2023) (Available online at tinyurl.com/2wusx8mj)

(2016–2021) Biochemistry, MBiol and BSc (First-Class Honours)

The University of Leeds (United Kingdom)

Awards: Nominated for the Royal Society of Biology Top Project Award (2020-2021)

Molecular and Cellular Biology Masters Project Prize (2020-2021)

Dean's-List Prize for Academic Excellence (2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2019-2020, 2020-2021)

Advanced Topics including Protein Dynamics, Computational Biology, NMR and X-ray Crystallography, Natural Product Biosynthesis, Synthetic Biology, Enzymes for Biofuels.

(2018-2019) Erasmus+, Molecular Life Sciences

Radboud University (The Netherlands)

Modules including Spectroscopic Techniques, Molecular Structure, Mathematics and Statistics.

(2013–2015) GCE Advanced Levels

Notre Dame Sixth Form (United Kingdom)

Awards: Top-Student Award for Excellence in Chemistry (2014-2015)

A-levels: Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics

Research Experience:

Protein Expression and Purification

Plasmid Transformation

Cell Growth and Protein Expression

Ni-Affinity, Size Exclusion, Ion Exchange

Samples for Cryo-Electron Microscopy

PCR and mutagenesis

Protein-Protein/Ligand Interactions

Isothermal Calorimetry (ITC)

Flow-induced Dispersion Analysis (FIDA)

Biolayer Interferometry (BLI)

Molecular Docking/Virtual Screening (HADDOCK/Vina)

Mass Spectrometry (MS)

Protein Characterization

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR)

Circular Dichroism (CD)

Thermal Shift Assay (TSA)

Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS)

Computational Techniques including Protein-Cofactor Mapping, AlphaFold, Molecular Dynamics (actively learning)

Protein/Enzyme/Complex Activity

UV-vis/CD Kinetics

High-Throughput Kinetics with a Plate Reader

Alkylation Assays to Monitor Persulfidation State