Matthew Batchelor
Dr Matthew Batchelor studied for a PhD on biomolecular interactions at solid–liquid interfaces with Prof. Trevor Rayment and Prof. Chris Abell at the University of Cambridge. After working as a postdoctoral research fellow on protein unfolding at the University of Nottingham with Prof. Phil Williams, he worked for three years as a Publishing Editor at the Royal Society of Chemistry. In 2012, Matt returned to active experimental and computational research at the University of Leeds, first as an interdisciplinary research fellow working with Prof. Michelle Peckham, Dr Emanuele Paci, Prof. Lorna Dougan and Prof. Peter Knight on single-alpha helix domains, and subsequently with Prof. Richard Bayliss, working broadly on the structural dynamics and interactions of disordered regions of proteins with relevance to cancer, and the structural effects of phosphorylation.
Diana Gimenez-Ibanez
Dr Diana Gimenez-Ibanez is a postdoctoral researcher working with Andy Wilson and Megan Wright on developing new tools to understand and influence protein-protein interactions involving intrinsically disordered regions. Before joining the team in 2021, Diana was a BBSRC research associate at Durham University in Prof. Steven L. Cobb’s group, focussed on developing fluorinated analogues of Fengycin A with enhanced bio-stability for application as ex-vivo antifungals. Before this, Diana completed her PhD in 2019 at Durham University, funded through the Marie Curie ITN Fluor21 network, where she investigated new routes for the conformational control of peptoids through fluorine and fluorine induced dipolar interactions.
Vanda Gunning
Dr Vanda Gunning is a postdoctoral researcher working with Richard Bayliss. Vanda’s primary focus is investigating protein-protein interactions of intrinsically disordered proteins. Before joining the SPiDR, Vanda pursued her MSc and PhD degrees at the University of PJ Safarik in Kosice (Slovakia) with a focus on molecular biology. She was awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship for PhD students at the Institute of Food Research in Norwich, where she studied the effect of plant compounds with anti-carcinogenic activity on gene expression in human cells. Subsequently, Vanda took part in several research projects at the University of York and the University of Leeds, with her work involving protein expression, purification, protein interactions, structural analysis, and activity assays both in vitro and in vivo in diverse biological systems, ranging from phages to plants and mammalian cell cultures.
James Holder
Dr James Holder’s research focuses on understanding how post-translational protein modifications are used to facilitate both local and global changes within the cell, particularly within the cell cycle. In 2019, James completed a Wellcome Trust funded PhD under the supervision of Professor Francis Barr. This work centred on establishing how the rapid series of events that comprise mitosis and mitotic exit were ordered to ensure successful completion of cell division. Following this, he began a postdoctoral research position with Dr Ivan Ahel, investigating the role of ADP-ribosylation in various cellular contexts. In his current postdoctoral position, based at the University of Oxford with Dr Fanni Gergely, James will use various cell biological and proteomic techniques to dissect the function of Aurora-A in space and time throughout the cell cycle.
Isha Mohan
Isha is a first-year PhD student funded through an sLoLa studentship. Isha is co-supervised by Dr Takashi Ochi and Professor Richard Bayliss and works on understanding the structural bases of protein-protein interactions. Isha graduated from Queen Mary, University of London, in 2021 with an MSci in Biochemistry. Her undergraduate research project in the Pearce group focused on fibroblast-derived matrix models at the Barts Cancer Institute. For her master’s project, she developed a multi-protein complex model of Mce proteins in the Darbari group.
Nasir Khan
Dr Nasir Khan is a research lab manager for Prof. Sheena Radford and Prof. David Brockwell’s labs at The University of Leeds and a facility manager for Astbury Circular Dichroism. Nasir also looks after stopped-flow, which will be available for Astbury. Nasir’s duties include purchasing and managing several grants/accounts, finance, and health and safety. Nasir is also involved with research on several projects, including SPIDR.
Brian Shami-Inkindi
Brian is a PhD student funded through White Rose BBSRC DTP (Diverse Talent Scholarship), working under the supervision of Dr Darren Tomlinson, Prof. Colin Johnson, and Prof. Richard Bayliss. His project focuses on probing the interactome of Aurora-A using Affimer reagents to understand the complex molecular mechanisms that determine its biological function. Brian graduated from the University of Leeds with a Master of Biology (MBiol) degree in Medical Biochemistry, with his extended research project supervised by Dr Takashi Ochi, focusing on determining the protein-protein interactions that make up centriolar structure. Brian also completed an industrial year during his undergraduate at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
Emma Wood
Emma is a first-year PhD student funded by the White Rose Mechanistic Biology DTP. She is supervised primarily by Dr Takashi Ochi and co-supervised by Dr Darren Tomlinson and Professor Neil Ranson. She works on using affimers to solve the cryo-EM structure of small proteins, with her main target being Aurora-A kinase. She graduated with an MSc in Molecular Medicine in 2022. For her masters project, she worked in Dr Sandra Bell’s lab, where she focused on elucidating the role of the CSMD1 gene in cancer.