People
We are the Clostridia Research Group (CRG) at The University of Nottingham.
Current group members
Prof Nigel Minton
Professor of Applied Molecular Microbiology
nigel.minton@nottingham.ac.uk
See selected publications
Nigel Minton moved from the Health Protection Agency to Nottingham in 2004 specifically to establish the Clostridia Research Group (CRG) which exclusively focuses on improving scientific understanding of the biology of Clostridium. The CRG aims both to develop more effective countermeasures (diagnosis, prevention & treatment) against pathogens and to exploit the medical and industrial properties of beneficial strains, specifically in cancer therapy and biofuel production. He is programme leader of one of the six research hubs of the newly created BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre.
Dr Klaus Winzer
Associate Professor in Microbial Physiology & Metabolomics
klaus.winzer@nottingham.ac.uk
See selected publications
Klaus is a microbiologist with a longstanding interest in bacterial physiology and metabolism. His current research focuses on the biology of pathogenic and non-pathogenic clostridia, in particular in vivo metabolism and cell-to-cell communication. In collaboration with Nigel Minton, he is using metabolic engineering and synthetic biology approaches to optimise butanol production in cellulolytic bacteria.
Dr Alan Cockayne
Associate Professor in Microbial Pathogenesis
alan.cockayne@nottingham.ac.uk
See selected publications
Alan's main area of interest is in bacteria virulence mechanisms in Gram positive bacteria. He is particularly interested in metal ion uptake systems and their regulation and most recently has been working on the roles of Fur and PerR in Clostridium difficile.
Dr Sarah Kuehne
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
sarah.kuehne@nottingham.ac.uk
See selected publications
Sarah has been working within the health component of the Clostridia Research Group for over 6 years. She is interested in the pathogenesis of Clostridium.difficile, mainly focusing on regulation of toxins, sporulation and germination. Through the Biomedical Research Unit (BRU) Sarah is involved in translational projects, paving the way for new and better diagnostics and therapeutics. Projects include engineering of the native human gut micro-flora to prevent Clostridium.difficile disease. She also works on certain beneficial Clostridia strains, using these harmless bacteria as anti-cancer drug vehicles.
Dr Ying Zhang
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Ying.Zhang@nottingham.ac.uk
See selected publications
Ying did her Ph.D in Microbiology at the University of Nottingham. She began working on protein engineering in the Antimicrobial Research Group in 2006 then joined the Clostridia Research Group in 2010. Her main interests are clostridial metabolism and fermentation products.
Michelle Kelly
Postgraduate Research Associate
michelle.kelly@nottingham.ac.uk
See selected publications
Michelle joined the CRG in June 2009 having previously worked on type II diabetes. Currently Michelle is working on an EU-funded project to understand the physiological basis of ‘hypervirulence’ in Clostridium difficile. The programme of work is focussed on modulation of gene function through genetic approaches and the subsequent comparative analysis of the strains generated in various in vitro and in vivo assays.
Dr Katalin Kovács
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
katalin.kovacs@nottingham.ac.uk
See selected publications
Kati has been working as a Postdoctoral Reseach Fellow for the past three years at The University of Nottingham Plant Sciences Division. She moved to the Clostridia Research Group in July 2009 where she is currently working on the Second generation, sustainable, bacterial biofuels programme of the BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre. Within this project, she applies synthetic biology and metabolic engineering approaches to create biofuel producing clostridial strains able to utilize various cellulosic substrates.
Dr Katrin Schwarz
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
katrin.schwarz@nottingham.ac.uk
Katrin joined the Clostridia Research Group in April 2009 to work on the Second generation, sustainable, bacterial biofuels programme of the BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre to optimize clostridial strains for the utilization of various cellulosic compounds.
Dr Muhammad Ehsaan
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
muhammad.ehsaan@nottingham.ac.uk
See selected publications
Muhammad has been working as a technician in Professor Minton's lab for more than a year before starting his PhD in August 2009. In 2006-07, Muhammad graduated with an MSc in Applied Biomolecular Technology from The University of Nottingham. During his PhD, he worked on the exemplification of allelic exchange methods ie. Allele Coupled Exchange (ACE) and in-frame deletion using negative selection markers pyrE and codA in Clostridium acetobutylicum. Currently, he is working as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow on the Second generation, sustainable, bacterial biofuels programme of the BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre. In this project, he applies the synthetic biology and genetic engineering approaches to maximise the production of the biobutanol production from C. acetobutylicum.
Dr Christopher Humphreys
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
mrxch3@nottingham.ac.uk
Chris joined the CRG in October 2009 having previously graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in Biochemistry. His PhD was concerned with the generation of safer strains of Clostridium botulinum which may be deployed by the food industry to improve food safety.
Dr Aleksandra Kubiak
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
aleksandra.kubiak@nottingham.ac.uk
See selected publications
Ola has been working on Clostridial-Directed Enzyme Prodrug Therapy (CDEPT), a novel form of cancer therapy, in which clostridial spores are used as a tumour-specific delivery vehicle for therapeutic agents. Prior to joining the CRG in 2009 as a PhD student, Ola obtained her degree in Environmental Protection from the University of Lodz, Poland, before successfully completing an MSc in Biotechnology from the University of Ghent (Belgium).
Dr Gareth Little
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
gareth.little@nottingham.ac.uk
In October 2009 Gareth joined the CRG having graduated from the University of Sheffield with an MBiolSci in Biochemistry and Microbiology. The fourth year of his degree was a research project on the isolation of microalgae for the production of biodiesel. The aim of his PhD here at Nottingham is to isolate and exploit Clostridia species with improved butanol production properties.
Dr Lili Sheng
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
lili.sheng@nottingham.ac.uk
Lili is a Biochemistry graduate from the University of Bristol and joined the CRG in October 2009 to undertake a PhD concerned with Biofuels. His focus is geobacillus, where he seeks to develop the necessary genetic tools to allow metabolic engineering as a means to improve and expand product yields.
Dr Hengzheng Wang
Research Technician
hengzheng.wang@nottingham.ac.uk
Hengzheng graduated in 2008 from the Ningbo Institute of Technology, Zhejiang University (China) with a BSc in Bioengineering, before successfully completing an MSc in Applied Biomolecular Technology at the University of Nottingham. She joined the CRG in October 2009 where she is developing and exploiting novel gene systems for determining the metabolic bottlenecks in biobutanol production in Clostridium acetobutylicum.
Ben Willson
PhD student
mrxbjw@nottingham.ac.uk
Having completed a BSc in Biochemistry at the University of York, Ben started work as a PhD student in the CRG in October 2010. As part of the second generation, sustainable, bacterial biofuels programme of the BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre, his project involves the engineering of C. acetobutylicum for the utilisation of lignocellulose.
Tom Layland
PhD student
mrxtl@nottingham.ac.uk
Tom completed his BSc in Biochemistry at Bristol University in the summer of 2011, having also been a member of the award winning BCCS-Bristol iGEM team in 2010. His PhD concerns the regulation of quorum sensing pathways in C.botulinum.
Patrick Budd
PhD student
mrxpb2@nottingham.ac.uk
Patrick is a PhD student currently working on looking into possible drug options which can be utilised in the CDEPT strategy for cancer therapy. He graduated from the University of Leeds in 2008 with a BSc in genetics. After working for 2 years in veterinary histology he decided to go back to education and completed an MRes in Advanced Genomics and Proteomic Sciences at the University of Nottingham.
Eric Liew
PhD student
mrxfml@nottingham.ac.uk
Eric Liew joined the CRG group in November 2011. Prior to that he was working for LanzaTech for 3 years. He received his BTech (Hon) and MSc from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. His PhD project focuses on the development of genetic tools for gas eating Clostridia.
Louise Sewell
Research Technician
Louise.Sewell@nottingham.ac.uk
Louise joined the CRG in April 2012 and is new to Clostridia research. She is a graduate of Dublin City University, Ireland and has a degree in Biotechnology. Previously Louise has worked in proteomics, stem cell research and automation of cell culture. Her role will be to support industrial biotechnology projects within the BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre.
Jon Baker
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
jonathan.baker@nottingham.ac.uk
Jon gained his PhD working on Staphylococcus aureus with Dr Julie Morrissey at the University of Leicester Genetics Depart, investigating both the genetic basis of metal regulation and copper resistance. He then moved to work in the yeast laboratory of Professor Annette Cashmore where he examined copper protein regulation and expression in pathogenic fungi before joining CRG in June 2012. Jon is currently working to develop a novel process for the production of specific chemical molecules from renewable feedstock.
Niall Bollard
PhD student
mrxnb5@nottingham.ac.uk
Niall joined the Clostridial Research Group as a PhD student in 2011, as part of the CLOSTNET research programme. His current work involves the study of phosphotransferase systems (PTSs) in the invasive pathogen, Clostridium difficile, and the role that they play in sugar uptake and toxin expression in Clostridium difficile.
Andrew Dempster
PhD student
msxad4@nottingham.ac.uk
Andrew graduated from the University of Leeds with a BSc (hons) in Microbiology and shortly after, began working as a microbiologist at the Centre for Research into Environment and Health in Leeds. Here Andrew worked on a number of projects concerning the microbial pollution of drinking and recreational bathing waters, with the aim to develop new water treatment strategies and a real time, predictive model of fluxes of fecal indicator organisms in coastal bathing waters. Andrew joined CRG in April 2012 as a technician and began his PhD in October 2013. He is currently working in Clostridium difficile research, primarily on the effects of the novel macrocyclic antibiotic, fidaxomicin, on spore germination and outgrowth.
Alexander Grosse-Honebrink
PhD student
mrxag11@nottingham.ac.uk
See selected publications
Alex joined the CRG in January 2012 for a masters internship coming from the Ecole Superieure de Biotechnologie (ESBS) in Strasbourg. He worked on the application of the mariner-transposon in the butanol producer Clostridium acetobutylicum. After getting his double degree in biotechnological engineering and environmental sciences he decided to stay in the CRG for a PhD to further develop the transposon in several Clostridial species and using this tool, and others to engineer the strains with the aim to increase butanol production.
Dr Emma Stevenson
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
mrzeb@nottingham.ac.uk
Emma gained her PhD at the University of Exeter in 2013. My project focused on understanding both host and bacterial factors that play a role in Clostridium difficile infection. She developed skills in clinical data analysis, bioinformatics as well as expertise in working with the anaerobe C. difficile. Prior to her PhD she have gained valuable molecular genetic laboratory skills, through her undergraduate and Masters degree courses, working with various micro-organisms.
Florence Annan
PhD student
mrxfja@nottingham.ac.uk
Florence joined the CRG as a PHD student in 2013. She graduated from the University of York with a BSc(hons) in Biology, in 2012. Her dissertation involved an original independent research project concerning development of yeast cells, through novel gene mutations, which can withstand higher external ethanol concentrations, whilst maintaining ethanol production, viability and growth rate. During her PHD she will be working as part of the GASCHEM group on optimising industrial gas fermentation to produce low carbon fuels and other fine chemicals currently obtained from crude oil.
Micky Whittle
PhD student
mrxmw@nottingham.ac.uk
Micky obtained a BSc (hons) in Microbiology from Cardiff University, which included an industrial placement year at Renishaw Diagnostics Ltd where she helped in the development of a novel diagnostic for bacterial and viral infections. Micky joined CRG in October 2013 to study for a PhD regarding the treatment of Clostridium difficile in a joint venture with Phico Therapeutics Ltd, using phage technology.
Ed Farries
PhD student
mrxecf@nottingham.ac.uk
Ed graduated from the University of Exeter in 2012 with a BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology; his final year research project involved the generation and characterisation of Clostridium.difficile mutants. He then undertook an MSc byResearch in Biosciences which focussed on investigating the effect of mutations in the lipoprotein biosynthesis pathway of Clostridium.difficile and the expression of enzymes from this pathway in E.coli . Award of this degree is expected in 2014. Ed joined the Clostridia Research group in October 2013 to undertake an MRC Doctoral Training Partnership PhD which aims to utilise mariner transposition and next generation sequencing to identify novel therapeutic targets.
Pete Rowe
PhD student
msxpr@nottingham.ac.uk
Pete joined the ClosTron team as a PhD student in 2013, having graduated from the University of Manchester with a BSc in Biotechnology. He has prior industrial experience optimising heterologous protein production in Aspergillus niger for AlerGenetica, and joins the GASCHEM team to help produce sustainable low-carbon fuels and chemicals from Clostridia gas fermentation
Lorna Finch
PhD student
msxlf1@nottingham.ac.uk
See selected publications
Lorna joined the Clostridia Research Group in 2013 after graduating from the University of Essex with a Bsc (Hons) in Biomedical Sciences. She has previous clinical research experience in Clostridium.difficile with sponsors Pro-Lab Diagnostics during her placement at Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust towards the evaluation of a novel molecular test to determine toxigenic capabilities in GDH positive Toxin negative samples. Lorna's PhD focuses on understanding the genetics of Clostridium.difficile sporulation/germination and relapse as part of the Biomedical Research Unit in Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases at Nottingham.
Natasha Kinsmore
PhD student
mrxnk8@.nottingham.ac.uk
Natasha graduated from Keele University with a BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Biomedical Sciences, and then became a registered Biomedical Scientist, achieving a Specialist Diploma in Medical Microbiology. After working in the NHS for 4 years, she studied for an MSc in Clinical Microbiology at the University of Nottingham, where she investigated the oxygen tolerance of Clostridium.difficile and the use of florescent reporter genes. For her BRU funded PhD she is continuing research on C. difficile, focusing on the molecular basis of sporulation and germination regulation. A significant portion of the project involves the characterisation of C.difficile strains in patients that suffer relapse, with an aim to establish the causes of such cases.
Patrick Ingle
PhD student
msxpi@nottingham.ac.uk
Patrick joined the CRG in October 2013 after graduating from the University of Edinburgh with a BSc (Hons) degree in Biotechnology. His PhD focuses on identifying the mechanisms which control the germination of Clostridium.difficile spores through the isolation and characterisation of germination mutants.
Bart Pander
PhD student
mrxbp@nottingham.ac.uk
Bart studied molecular microbiology and science education at the University of Groningen in the North of the Netherlands. His master research was about the microbial ecology and molecular genetics of Ralstonia solanacearum and his thesis about Education of Evolution in secondary schools. He was a teacher at the Grammar School of Leeuwarden where he taught Biology, Chemistry and Science. After 7 years of teaching molecular biology it was time to practice molecular biology. In 2013 he joined the Clostridia Research Group as a PhD-student on the Gaschem project where he focuses on molecular physiology and genetics of Clostridia species that are able to grow on carbon monoxide or on a mixture of Carbon monoxide, Carbon dioxide and Hydrogen (synthesis gas).
Hanson Ogbu
PhD student
paxho@nottingham.ac.uk
Hanson joined the CRG in April, 2013 and is new to Clostridia research. He obtained an MSc in Industrial microbiology from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He worked at the same University, within the division of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, where he was involved in the evaluation of microbial contents of pharmaceutical preparations and products. After working for seven years, he decided to further his studies at the University of Nottingham. His PhD seeks to understand how metabolism controls toxin formation in Clostridium difficile through the functional application of mass spectrometry-based metabolomics platform.
Dr Sam Mclean
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
samantha.mclean@nottingham.ac.uk
Sam joined the CRG in October 2013 having previously worked at the University of Sheffield, where her main research interests involved investigating the response of enterobacteria to carbon monoxide and molecules that cause nitrosative and oxidative stress. She is currently working on a project that involves the optimisation of industrial gas fermentation for commercial low-carbon fuel and chemical production through systems and synthetic biology approaches.
Dr Thomas Millat
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
thomas.millat@nottingham.ac.uk
See selected publications
Thomas is a physicist with a longstanding interest in dynamic modelling of complex systems focusing on their responses to various environmental changes. After he did his PhD in Theoretical Physics, he moved to the newly established Group of Systems Biology & Bioinformatics at the University of Rostock. Here, Thomas began to investigate the cellular adaptation to changing environmental and intracellular conditions, including signal transduction, genetic, proteomic, and metabolic regulation, using mathematical models. Additionally, he developed methods for systems identification, data analysis, and data processing. Since several years, he has been focusing on the systems biology of microorganisms, in particular the bacteria Clostridium acetobutylicum and Bacillus subtilis and the Baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisia. He joined the Clostridial Research Group in October 2013. Thomas is currently working on the model-supported optimization of the synthetic gas fermentation in Clostridium ljungdahlii.
Georgina Phelan
PhD student
mrxgp@nottingham.ac.uk
Georgina joined the CRG in October 2013 as a PhD student with CASE partnership to Green Biologics. She graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a BSc (Hons) in Biology and spent a year of her degree researching and studying at Texas Tech University, USA. Her research abroad focused on bat gut biomes and for her final year project she worked with a novel expanded bed bioreactor. Here at the CRG she will be working on the use of forward and reverse genetics to select Clostridium strains more tolerant to biobutanol and cellulosic feedstock inhibitors.
Craig Woods
PhD student
mrxcw4@nottingham.ac.uk
Craig studied at Imperial College London completing a BSc. and ARCS in Biology. In his final year he did a research project developing a biosensor to tackle schistosomiasis.
Michelle Lister
PhD student
mrxml5@nottingham.ac.uk
Michelle achieved her BSc in Applied Biomedical Science in 2008 and has four years experience working as a Specialist Biomedical Scientist after completing a Diploma in Clinical Microbiology. During her time working in a clinical microbiology laboratory a 6 month secondment to the research department became available where she developed a multiplex PCR for the detection of enteric viruses in infants and helped optimise a respiratory virus real-time PCR. She started her PhD in 2012 as part of the BRU project and is looking at toxin regulation in C. difficile using mariner transposition and allelic exchange with the addition of characterising clinical strains in relapsing patients.
Ronja Breitkopf
PhD student
mrxrb14@nottingham.ac.uk
Ronja graduated from the University of Rostock with a Masters degree in Microbiology and Biochemistry, in 2013. In her Master thesis she characterized a phosphotransacetylase (PTA). During her PhD she will be working as part of the GASCHEM group where she focuses on molecular physiology of Clostridia species that are able to grow on Carbon monoxide/dioxide and Hydrogen. Her special interest lies in the metabolic pathways used by these organisms
Pawel Piatek
PhD student
mrxpp2@exmail.nottingham.ac.uk
Pawel joined the CRG in October 2013 after graduating from Uppsala University with an MSc in Applied Biotechnology. His masters thesis project dealt with re-designing carbon fixation in cyanobacteria through synthetic pathways. As a PhD student, Pawel is a member of the GASCHEM group that seek to improve the capabilities of gas fermentation in Clostridial strains, with the intention of producing low carbon fuels.
Emily Harding
Research Technician
emily.harding@nottingham.ac.uk
Emily graduated from the University of Leicester with a BSc in Biological Sciences (Physiology with Pharmacology). Following this she worked within the food industry at a chemistry laboratory before joining the Clostridia Research Group in October 2013. Emily is currently working on the use of a particular species of Clostridia for sustainable production of important industrial chemicals.
Christian Arenas Lopez
PhD student
mrxca1@nottingham.ac.uk
Christian joined the CRG in September 2013. He graduated from Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) with a BSc in Biotechnology. Following this he studied an MSc in Advanced Biotechnology in the same institution. In his Master thesis he dealt with design a production and purification process for alpha-galactosidase in yeast. As a PhD student, he is going to be working with Ralstonia eutropha.
Robert Habgood
PhD student
stxrhh@nottingham.ac.uk
Having graduated from the University of Nottingham in December 2013 with a BSc (Hons) in Biology, Rob joined the CRG in May 2014 to do his PhD as part of the BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) with the University of Nottingham. Having started the DTP in September 2013, Rob completed several lab rotations which saw him working in the CRG and at Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire. Rob is currently engineering strains of Geobacillus to produce advanced alkane biofuels as part of the RICEFUEL programme.
Ryan Hope
PhD student
stxrjh@nottingham.ac.uk
Ryan received his Bachelors Degree in Microbiology from the University of Huddersfield, and his Masters from The University of Leeds. Between these two periods, Ryan worked in bioprocess, firstly for the University of Leeds protein expression facility, operating fermentors at pilot scale, then subsequently performing research for a venture capital funded startup and a global biopharmaceutical company. Working for the Clostridia Research Group as part of The University of Nottinghams DTP program, Ryan is interested in taking a systems biology approach to synthetic strain development and bioprocess design, in order to enhance production yields of biobutanol from saccharolytic Clostridium spp.
Robert Mansfield
PhD student
stxrpm@nottingham.ac.uk
Robert graduated from the University of Nottingham with a BSc in Biochemistry & Genetics in 2013. Prior to the commencement of his PhD program he completed a broad variety of research placements across the University, including assignments within the Faculty of Engineering and the School of Life Sciences. During his PhD he is working to increase butanol titres of industrially relevant clostridium species capable of metabolising gaseous C1 compounds.
James Millard
PhD student
stxcjmi@nottingham.ac.uk
Having joined the group as a Research Technician in 2012, James began his PhD project in May 2014, working to improve production of C4 chemicals in acetogenic clostridia. His particular interest is in gas-fermenting clostridia, which are able to capture carbon from industrial waste gases. Previously, he completed an MSc in Biotechnology at the University of East Anglia.
Oliver Severn
PhD student
stxojs@nottingham.ac.uk
Oliver Jack Severn is a Ph.D. student working on quorum sensing in Clostridium acetobutylicum. This is extended as experimentation into the use of acetobutylicum for biotechnological use. The work incudes; genetic manipulation, metabolic analysis, and a large number of molecular methods with a number of bacterial species. He is jointly funded by the BBSRC and the University of Nottingham.
Jennifer Spencer
PhD student
stxjs15@nottingham.ac.uk
Jennifer graduated from The University of Nottingham with BSc Microbiology. She then worked for M&S and GSK before returning to Nottingham for her PhD in 2013. Jennifer is working on biological engineering of the thermophile Geobacillus to produce the advanced biofuel butanol. This work is part of the RiceFuel project (www.ricefuel.net), an international collaboration aiming to convert rice straw waste into fuel.
Tom Wilding-Steele
PhD student
stxtpw@nottingham.ac.uk
Tom graduated from Lancaster University with a degree in Biochemistry in 2013, then subsequently joined the CRG in 2014 after completing several lab rotations as part of the UoN BBSRC funded DTP scheme. He is currently looking at engineering clostridia to degrade cellulose using synthetic biology techniques.
Carolyn Meaney
PhD student
mrxcm6@nottingham.ac.uk
Carolyn joined the CRG in 2010 as a Marie Curie fellow on the ITN CLOSTNET. She spent her first three years at Unilever, Colworth Park, before transferring to Nottingham to complete her final year. Her current project is concerned with using forward and reverse genetics to better understand sporulation and germination in proteolytic Clostridium botulinum.
Christopher Stead
PhD student
msxcs3@nottingham.ac.uk
Chris joined the group in October of 2014 after graduating from Sheffield Hallam University with BSc (hons) in biology. His current work involves isolating and optimising methanotrophic bacteria for the bioconversion of methane to liquid transportation fuel.
Zeenat Bashir
PhD student
msxzb@nottingham.ac.uk
Zeenat did an M.Sc. in biotechnology from Jamia Hamdard, India and before joining CRG as a PhD student she has worked at ICGEB, New Delhi, India and discovered and characterised novel cellulases. She is interested in utilising Geobacillus for the biodegradation of cellulosic biomass. She is aiming for inducible expression of heterologous cellulases in Geobacillus which will be used for bio-processing of plant biomass to produce biofuels.
Bashir Rumah
PhD student
msxbr@nottingham.ac.uk
Bashir attained his BSc.in Biochemistry at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria. He also hold a Masters degree in Environmental and Energy Engineering and worked as a research Scientist for Mars Petcare. His current PhD research involves the isolation, characterisation and optimisation of Methanotrophs for bioconversion of methane to liquid transportation fuels.
Rupert Norman
PhD student
stxron@nottingham.ac.uk
Rupert is a PhD student in Systems Biology and Bioinformatics with Prof. Charlie Hodgman. He has a Bachelor's degree in Microbiology from the University of Nottingham which included an industrial placement at Cambridge Science Park. His research involves building a metabolic model of Clostridium autoethanogenum and developing software for the subsequent integration of omics data.
James Winter
Research Technician
mbzjw@nottingham.ac.uk
James joined the SBRC as a Fermentation Research Technician in January 2015. After graduating from Nottingham-Trent University in Forensic Science, he worked at Abbott Laboratories as a Fermentation Technician from 2007 until 2010 manufacturing proteins from E.coli for use in diagnostic blood testing kits and later moving into Technical Product Development. Subsequently he worked for Coca Cola Enterprises as a Senior Microbiology Technical Operator, then for BioProduct Laboratories as a Plasma Processing Technician
Paul Henry
PhD student
pcxph1@nottingham.ac.uk
Paul completed his MSci in Chemistry at the University of Nottingham in 2014, specifically studying time resolved infrared spectroscopy of photochemical reactions with transition metal complexes. He has since taken a studentship with the EPSRC centre for doctoral training in sustainable chemistry at Nottingham. His research will use his knowledge of vibrational spectroscopy and multivariate analysis for real time monitoring of fermentation processes.
Meetu Pathak
PhD student
mbamd1@nottingham.ac.uk
Meetu graduated with an M.Sc. degree in Microbiology from HNB Garhwal University, India. After finishing her Masters studies, she worked as a Trainee Microbiologist at ATLAS Laboratories & Pharmaceutical Limited Haridwar, India. Before joining the Clostridia Research Group, she was working as a Researcher at Laboratory of Metabolic Engineering of Microorganisms, Pusan National University, South Korea under Prof. Sunghoon Park. During her stay at Korea, she metabolically engineered Klebsiella pneumonia strain for synthesis of 1,3-propanediol and 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3HP) using glycerol as a substrate. She is interested in designing the Clostridium pasteurianum for production of platform chemical 3HP from glycerol using genetic tool box developed at CRG.
Vinod Kumar
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Vinod.Kumar@nottingham.ac.uk
Dr Vinod Kumar joined the Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC) in January 2015 as Marie Curie International Incoming Fellow. He did M.Sc (Chemistry) and PhD (Biochemical Engineering & Biotechnology) from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India. Before joining SBRC, he worked as Post-Doctoral Fellow in France, South Korea and United Kingdom. He has worked on different biological systems; fungal, yeast and bacterial. Dr Kumar has more than 10 years of research experience and carried out research in multidimensional projects aiming at Development of low cost, energy efficient and sustainable Bioprocesses for production of Biofertilizers, Biopesticides, Biofuels and Biochemicals. In SBRC, Dr Kumar is working on production of platform chemical 3-hydroxypropionic acid from Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius using Metabolic Engineering and Synthetic Biology tools. Dr Kumar is very happy and quite excited to be a part of SBRC team and looking forward to do some great work here.
Magdalena Jonczyk
Research Technician
mbzmj2@exmail.nottingham.ac.uk
Magda obtained her Masters degree in molecular biology from the University of Adam Mickiewicz, Poland and completed her postgraduate study in plant virology at the Institute of Plant Protection, Poland. She has studied host-microbial interactions in different model organisms including yeast, plant and mouse. Applying high throughput screening techniques, she worked on identification of novel host factors important for microbial replication. She investigated impact of host and pathogen genetic diversity on development and severity of disease. She is interested in factors important for the regulation of microbial phenotype and their potential for therapeutic or industrial applications.
Hanna Doughty
Research Technician
mbzhnd@nottingham.ac.uk
Hanna graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2014 with a BSc in Forensic Biology, with a focus on Molecular Biology and a particular interest in bioweapons defences. Following on from this, she worked for the 2Sisters Food Group as a Microbiology Technician before coming to join the group in January 2015 as a Laboratory Technician. Whilst she is here she will be studying for a Masters degree in Biomedical Science alongside helping with a variety of tasks within the group.
Andrew Mutch
Research Technician
andrew.mutch@nottingham.ac.uk
Andrew joined the SBRC in 2015 as an analytical biochemistry technician in January 2015. Having graduated from Warwick University with a degree in Biochemistry in 2010, Andrew worked in the provision of analytical services to the pharmaceutical industry and the NHS before returning to Nottingham Trent University in 2013 to complete an MSc in Molecular Cell Biology
Vanisha Patel
PhD student
mbxvp@nottingham.ac.uk
Vanisha joined the SBRC group in January 2015 after graduating from the University of Hertfordshire with a BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics. Her PhD project involves developing methods for high throughput engineering and semi-directed evolution of bioreactor platform microbes, working with web lab researcher Sophie Vaud.
Sophie Vaud
PhD student
mbxsv@nottingham.ac.uk
Sophie joined the SBRC in January 2015 after graduating in June 2014 from ENSTBB (National Superior School of Biomolecular Techniques of Bordeaux) with a Masters degree in Biotechnology. Her PhD project aims to develop a high-throughput genome editing of Cupriavidus necator, working jointly with Vanisha Patel whose work is devoted to the dry part of the project (computer modelling, databases).
Dr Sungchan Kim
PhD student
sbxsk6@nottingham.ac.uk
Sung (Joe) joined the group in October 2014 and is a PhD student working on novel bacteriocins against Clostridium difficile. He graduated from Imperial College London with a BSc (Hons) degree in Microbiology and also completed a BDS degree at Kings College London.
Ines Canadas Blasto
PhD student
stxiccan@nottingham.ac.uk
Ines obtained her degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Leon (Spain), before successfully completing a MSc in Applied Biomolecular Technology for the Pharmaceutical Industry at the University of Nottingham. She joined the SBRC in May 2015 as a PhD student, where she is working in Clostridial-Directed Enzyme Prodrug Therapy (CDEPT).