Research programmes

The particular research strengths of the department are summarised by the following key areas of research. The particular research interests of our academic staff are available below.

Structural biology

• Dr Tracey Barrett, BSc, DPhil: Protein crystallography; eukaryotic and bacterial DNA repair mechanisms; eukaryotic homologous recombination targets. NK-kB signalling.
• Dr John Christodoulou, PhD: Protein folding and misfolding, in particular at the point of synthesis on intact ribosomes.
• Dr Bibek Gooptu, BSc, PhD, MB BChir, MRCP: Molecular mechanisms of disease; conformational disorders; serpin polymerisation.
• Professor Nicholas Keep, BA, MA, PhD: Protein crystallography; proteins implicated in muscular dystrophy; bacterial resuscitation particularly Tuberculosis.
• Professor Neil Q McDonald, BSc, PhD: Growth factor-mediated signalling pathways and interstrand crosslink repair.
• Dr Carolyn A Moores, BA, PhD: Structure and function of the cytoskeleton; electron microscopy.
• Professor David S Moss, BSc, PhD: Bacterial toxins; immunoinformatics; computational biology.
• Professor Elena Orlova, BSc, MRes, PhD: Structural electron microscopy; portal proteins; ion channels; proteins involved in control of chromosomal replication.
• Dr Jim E Pitts, BSc, PhD: Protein engineering of the proteins involved in the bacterial biphenyl pathway.
• Professor Helen R Saibil, BSc, PhD, FMedSci, FRS: Molecular chaperones and protein folding; protein misfolding in amyloid fibrils; membrane pore-forming proteins.
• Dr Renos Savva, BSc, PhD: Virus-host interactions: protein–protein and protein-nucleic acid. Recombinant methods development and structural molecular biology.
• Professor Christine Slingsby, BSc, DPhil: Eye lens, cataract and stress proteins.
• Dr Cara Vaughan, PhD: Structural Biology of Hsp90 and its cochaperones; Hsp90 role in kinetochore assembly; protein crystallography & single particle electron microscopy.
• Professor Gabriel Waksman, MSc, PhD: Structural and Functional Biology of Bacterial Secretion Systems.
• Professor Bonnie A Wallace, BS, MPhil, PhD, DSc: Membrane proteins; protein crystallography; circular dichroism spectroscopy and bioinformatics.

Microbiology

• Dr Sanjib Bhakta, BSc, MSc, PhD, DPhil (Oxon): Characterising structure, function and regulation of key enzymes in cell wall biosynthetic pathways to identify novel therapeutic targets in mycobacteria; understanding molecular mechanisms of persistance and drug resistance in mycobacteria; developing high through put models for testing antimycobacterials.
• Dr Richard D Hayward, BSc, PhD: Bacterial pathogenesis; cellular microbiology; protein secretion systems; Chlamydia; infertility.
• Professor Nicholas Keep, BA, MA, PhD: Protein crystallography; proteins implicated in muscular dystrophy; bacterial resuscitation particularly Tuberculosis.
• Dr Philip Lowden, BA, PhD: Chemistry, genetics and enzymology of natural product biosynthesis in bacteria and fungi; medicinal chemistry of Huntington's Disease; chemical studies of post-translational protein modifications.
• Dr Jane L Nicklin, BSc, PhD: Biochemical activities of fungi, including natural products with biomedical applications, biological control of plant pests weeds and diseases.
• Dr Andrew Osbourne, BSc, PhD: The molecular mechanism of protein export by the malaria parasite.
• Dr Renos Savva, BSc, PhD: Virus-host interactions: protein–protein and protein-nucleic acid. Recombinant methods development and structural molecular biology.
• Professor Gabriel Waksman, MSc, PhD: Structural and Functional Biology of Bacterial Secretion Systems.

Computational biology

• Dr Paul M King, BA, DPhil: Computer simulation; computer-aided drug design.
• Professor David S Moss, BSc, PhD: Bacterial toxins; immunoinformatics; computational biology.
• Dr Irilenia Nobeli, BSc, MSc, PhD: Bioinformatics, chemoinformatics and molecular simulations applied to molecular recognition, metabolome analysis, inhibitor discovery and protein function.
• Dr Adrian Shepherd, BA, MSc, PhD: Biomedical text mining; modelling uncertainty in biological data; immunoinformatics.
• Dr Alona Sosinsky, MSc, PhD: Annotation of eukaryotyc genomes, discovery of regulatory regions and regulatory mechanisms for eukaryotic genes, understanding determinants of specificity in protein-DNA recognition.
• Dr Katherine C Thompson, MA, DPhil: Spectroscopy, kinetics and computational biological chemistry.
• Dr Maya Topf, BSc, MSc, DPhil: Structure and function characterisation of macromolecular assemblies by a combination of experimental data, bioinformatics, and modelling techniques.
• Professor Bonnie A Wallace, BS, MPhil, PhD, DSc: Membrane proteins; protein crystallography; circular dichroism spectroscopy and bioinformatics.
• Dr Mark A Williams, BSc, PhD: Molecular biophysics of protein complexes; NMR; molecular simulation; structure-thermodynamic relationships; structure-based inhibitor design; the Hsp90 chaperone system; the bacterial cell wall.

Chemical biology

• Dr Sanjib Bhakta, BSc, MSc, PhD, DPhil (Oxon): Characterising structure, function and regulation of key enzymes in cell wall biosynthetic pathways to identify novel therapeutic targets in mycobacteria; understanding molecular mechanisms of persistance and drug resistance in mycobacteria; developing high through put models for testing antimycobacterials.
• Dr Paul M King, BA, DPhil: Computer simulation; computer-aided drug design.
• Dr Philip Lowden, BA, PhD: Chemistry, genetics and enzymology of natural product biosynthesis in bacteria and fungi; medicinal chemistry of Huntington's Disease; chemical studies of post-translational protein modifications.
• Professor Neil Q McDonald, BSc, PhD: Growth factor-mediated signalling pathways and interstrand crosslink repair.
• Dr Marianne Odlyha, BA, BSc, MSc, PhD: Environmental research for assessment of indoor conditions surrounding cultural materials and damage assessment of (macro to nanoscale) biomaterials.
• Dr Jonathan M Slater, BSc, PhD, CChem, MRSC: Electrochemistry, including sensors and sensor arrays; microfabrication and capillary electrophoresis.
• Dr Katherine C Thompson, MA, DPhil: Spectroscopy, kinetics and computational biological chemistry.

Cell biology

• Dr Richard D Hayward, BSc, PhD: Bacterial pathogenesis; cellular microbiology; protein secretion systems; Chlamydia; infertility.
• Dr Andrew Osbourne, BSc, PhD: The molecular mechanism of protein export by the malaria parasite.
• Dr Richard C Rayne, BSc, PhD: Physiology of insects: neurobiology (peptidergic signalling) and immunology (cell-mediated defenses).
• Professor Helen R Saibil, BSc, PhD, FMedSci, FRS: Molecular chaperones and protein folding; protein misfolding in amyloid fibrils; membrane pore-forming proteins.

Biophysics

• Dr Tracey Barrett, BSc, DPhil: Protein crystallography; eukaryotic and bacterial DNA repair mechanisms; eukaryotic homologous recombination targets. NK-kB signalling.
• Dr Carolyn A Moores, BA, PhD: Structure and function of the cytoskeleton; electron microscopy.
• Dr Marianne Odlyha, BA, BSc, MSc, PhD: Environmental research for assessment of indoor conditions surrounding cultural materials and damage assessment of (macro to nanoscale) biomaterials.
• Professor Elena Orlova, BSc, MRes, PhD: Structural electron microscopy; portal proteins; ion channels; proteins involved in control of chromosomal replication.
• Dr Konstantinos Thalassinos, BSc (Hons), MRes, PhD: Biological Mass Spectrometry, Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry, Protein folding, Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomics, Proteomics software development.
• Dr Salvador Tomas, BSc, PhD: Intermolecular interactions and applications towards molecular nano-engineering; molecular phenomena at lipid bilayars and implications in cellular regulation; design of nano- and micro-compartmentalised systems as a tool for drug development; studies on the origin of life; design of minimal artificial cells.
• Dr Mark A Williams, BSc, PhD: Molecular biophysics of protein complexes; NMR; molecular simulation; structure-thermodynamic relationships; structure-based inhibitor design; the Hsp90 chaperone system; the bacterial cell wall.

Biology (organismal)

• Dr Glenn K Baggott, BSc, PhD: Avian embryonic physiology; water economy of, and ion movements within, the egg; natural incubation; microbial modification and penetration of the egg shell.
• Dr Bibek Gooptu, BSc, PhD, MB BChir, MRCP: Molecular mechanisms of disease; conformational disorders; serpin polymerisation.
• Dr David C Havill, BSc, PhD: Ecophysiological studies on potential effects of climate change on plant distribution and physiological processes; ecophysiology of salt marsh plants.
• Dr Martin J Ingrouille, BSc, PhD: Evolution of plants; taxonomy of complex plant groups; molecular systematics; speciation; breeding systems; population and geographical patterns of variation. All research is carried out in collaboration with colleagues at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
• Dr Jane L Nicklin, BSc, PhD: Biochemical activities of fungi, including natural products with biomedical applications, biological control of plant pests weeds and diseases.
• Dr Richard C Rayne, BSc, PhD: Physiology of insects: neurobiology (peptidergic signalling) and immunology (cell-mediated defenses).