Welcome to my eportfolio page!

I studied Biochemistry at King's College London graduating with first class honours in 2007.

My final year research project investigated changes to gene expression profiles in skin cells on exposure to agents such as nicotine and UV radiation. This work was nominated for the National Undergraduate Science, Engineering and Technology Award 2007.

I spent three years working in IT Project Management and Credit Risk for Barclays Bank before joining MOAC in 2010.

MOAC MSc 2010-2011 - Mathematical Biology and Biophysical Chemistry

Mini-Project 1

My first mini-project was supervised by Vicky Marlow and Vimos Fulop in the Structural Biology department of the School of Life Sciences.

To support Vicky's work in determining the catalytic mechanism of the enzyme acetolactate decarboxylase (ALDC), I used site-directed mutagenesis to produce variants of the enzyme, each with a single residue change in the active site. The mutant proteins were expressed in E. coli and purified by chromatography. I also used circular dichroism to confirm that the secondary structure of the protein had been retained, despite the mutation, and then began initial assays to characterise activity. More information...

Mini-Project 2

My second mini-project was supervised by Andrew Dove in the Chemistry Department. My poster was runner-up in the MSc poster prize.

To develop degradable plastics for tissue engineering scaffolds, I synthesised a ketene acetal monomer for blending into UV-cured materials. The current materials partially degrade but long polyacrylate chains remain which may be difficult for the body to clear during tissue regrowth. Addition of up to 20% of the synthesised ketene acetal to the polymer maintained the tensile strength of the original material so further degradation studies will confirm if the new blends give the required degradation. More information...

Mini-Project 3

My third mini-project was supervised by Hugo van den Berg in the Mathematics Institute.

This work forms part of a larger collaborative effort across various research groups at Warwick to investigate the cell division machinery of prokaryotic cells. The aim of my project is to develop a mathematical model of the formation and maintenance of the Z-ring in E. coli. Excellent progress was made during my mini-project and will continue as this preliminary work form the basis of my PhD project.

c dot e dot dow at warwick dot ac dot uk