Greater Cardiff Area
I am a dedicated, confident and self-motivated researcher with a proven skill set in basic and advanced laboratory research techniques. I am extremely driven about a career in scientific research and development and am particularly with regards to animal and human health, following four years of research into Inflammatory Bowel disease. I am passionate about projects facilitating the research and hopefully the consequential reduction of debilitating diseases and contributing to public health in the UK. I am very competent in most microbiology based techniques including aseptic and sterile techniques, optical microscopy, bacterial staining, plating methods, enumeration and identification of bacteria, use of biological safety cabinets, media and buffer preparation, diagnostic biochemical tests, use of selective media, antibiotic assays, conjugation and anaerobic culture. I also have become highly capable in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology techniques including DNA and plasmid preparation, restriction enzyme digests, PCR, agarose gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE, microbial community profiling by16s rRNA gene analysis ,gene and recombinant DNA cloning, functional metagenomics, sequencing metagenomics, protein/enzyme assays (fluorogenic and colorimetric), ELISA, zymography. During my PhD I also embarked on independently setting up a mammalian cell culture facility for our lab in order to conduct analysis on human gut epithelial cell lines and consequently have gained valuable experience in mammalian cell culture methods including the general growth and maintenance of cell lines, the use of haemocytometer, transwell culture methods such as trans epithelial resistance measurements and permeability assays. I am confident in using statistical analysis software (R, SPSS and minitab) and have extensive experience with DNA sequence analysis software such as BLAST, BioEdit, Mothur, RDP and MGRast.
I am currently researching the development of an alternative cancer therapy using an invasive but attenuated strain of Salmonella typhimurium which preferentially invades tumour cells over healthy cells to constitutively express RNA silencing cassettes targeting certain oncogenes. My responsibilites include all the laboratory work for this project and all essential data analysis as well as teaching and training new employers and students.
• Project title: - Towards Accessing the Proteolytic Capacity of the Gut Microbiota and it’s role in Health and Disease. Project synopsis: - The human gut microbiota outnumbers our own human cells by 100-1 and is consequently often considered an extension of our genome harbouring fundamental functions of which we are genetically incapable. However it can also be a significant liability and has been implicated in numerous diseases, particularly; Inflammatory Bowel Disease. The efforts of my PhD entailed evaluating a specific molecular mechanism of the gut bacterial metagenome; proteolytic activity, collectively known as the Degradome. I developed novel functional metagenomic tools to facilitate accessing the gut microbial degradome, and conducted a comprehensive cohort based study comparing faecal proteolytic activity, 16s rRNA microbial community structure and sequencing metagenomics of IBD patients compared to healthy controls to determine the role of microbial protease in disease aetiology. • I conducted a large cohort based study on proteases isolated from IBD patients faecal samples via assay based techniques, metagenomics, and assessed their effect on two human gut cell lines and conducted 16S rRNA gene community analysis. • Taking responsibility for my research; I confidently and independently plan and execute research in an efficient manner, combining effective decision making with focus, enthusiasm and commitment. • Interacting with peers and superiors in a team setting, I express my opinions and ideas confidently and drew upon the expertise of my peers to inform good research practice. • Presenting my research findings to audiences of all levels, I have designed and delivered engaging oral and poster presentations to peers, superiors and the wider scientific community. • Demonstrating experimental procedures for undergraduate practical sessions, I take pride in my ability to explain complex concepts and techniques to students. • I have confidently planned a