Project Title: Next Generation Disease Screening Using Nanosensors

Caroline Koch is a PhD candidate at Imperial College in London. As part of her research project, she seeks to improve early detection of prostate cancer by developing a new detection strategy utilising nanopores and machine learning algorithms. Caroline holds a BSc in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, as well as a MSc in Biomedical Engineering from Imperial College. Due to her interdisciplinary background and passion for cancer research, she’s the ideal candidate for this project. In her free time, Caroline likes to do sports like swimming and yoga, as well as spending time with her family and friends.  

Owen is currently in the MRes stage of a PhD as part of the Chemical Biology CDT. He graduated from Cardiff University with a BSc in Biochemistry in 2014, and went on to work as an R&D scientist in industry developing blood glucose biosensors before starting a PhD in October 2019. His current research, in collaboration with Roche, is focused on developing a biosensor for quantification of free haemoglobin.

Thomas Wells is a student within the Barter group working on Rubisco and Carbonic Anhydrase. He graduated from the University of York in 2019 with a BSc in Biochemistry. Previous projects include work on algal proteins, synthesising LPMO mimetics and automating ADME assays. 

Yu Cheng is currently a MRes student of Chemical Biology CDT.  Before joining in Membrane Biophysics Group as a junior researcher in 2019 Sep, he obtained his BSc in chemistry from Fudan University in China.  He is currently working with Prof. Oscar and Dr. Laura to build an on-chip reconstitution platform. 

Sara is currently enrolled in the MRes year of the Chemical Biology CDT programme. She comes from Italy where she graduated with first class honours from Sapienza University in Rome with a MSc in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical technology in 2014, before moving to Cambridge, UK, for an industrial internship as part of the “Leonardo Da Vinci” fellowship. She stayed in industry and worked as an R&D scientist for the following 5 years, developing a large amount of experience in the drug discovery field, which is one of her main scientific interests. She joined Imperial College London in October 2019 and to continue her career by pursuing a PhD. Her current research, funded by EPSRC ICB CDT and co-funded by the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, is focused on using molecular dynamics simulations and membrane biophysics to identify new therapeutics for the treatment of Tuberculosis. 

Shreyas is a currently in the MRes stage of the Chemical biology CDT. Working on producing a next generation model of the human gut. He attained his MSc in Computer science from the University of Bath and Bsc in Biomedical Science from Staffordshire University and is experienced in the enterprise IT sector. His research interests are computational biology, automation and nutrition.  

I am a first year PhD student within the ICB Doctoral Training Programme working across both Imperial College and the Francis Crick Institute. I undertook my undergraduate degree (BSc Hons) in Medicinal Chemistry with Human Biology at Keele University. I subsequently obtained a Master of Research (MRes) in Drug Discovery and Development at Imperial and then joined this programme as a first year PhD student. In my spare time I enjoy climbing, skating, reading fiction and visiting the many attractions London has to offer. 

Annie joined the ICB CDT in October 2019 after graduating with an MChem in Chemistry at the University of Sheffield. Her research is focused on the use of a single-cell biopsy platform for spatially-resolved mitochondrial analysis of single neurons in relation to neurodegenerative diseases and aging.

Before commencing his PhD with the Chemical Biology CDT, Matthew completed his undergraduate studies at Imperial with a final year research project on the influence of methylation of lipid headgroups on phase behaviour. During his time as an undergraduate Matthew also undertook a summer research placement at the University of California Los Angeles where he helped develop a novel method for preparing supported lipid bilayers.