Resume
University and Academic Career
September 1, 1994
Started study Biology at the Faculty of Biology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
October 18, 1995
B.Sc Biology
January 6 - June 30, 1997
Undergraduate project at the Department of Biochemistry, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, under supervision of Dr J. Venema and Drs N. Eppens.
September 8, 1997 - March 31, 1998
Second undergraduate project at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany Gene Expression group.
August 31, 1998
MSc Molecular Biology
October 1, 1998
Start of PhD project "Functional analysis of snoRNP related proteins" at the University of Nijmegen, department of Biochemistry of Nijmegen under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Walther. J. van Venrooij and Dr. Ger J.M. Pruijn.
March 1 - May 31, 2001
Worked at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Göttingen, Germany) in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Reinhardt Lührmann. Together with Dr. Nicholas J. Watkins I worked on several projects: (1) affinity purification of the human U3-snoRNP complex; (2) in vitro reconstitution of the human U3-snoRNP complex; (3) the role of the human 15.5K protein in U3-snoRNP assembly.
February 1 - July 1, 2003
Post-doctoral associate at the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT in the laboratory of Dr. Susan J. Baserga.
June 3, 2003
PhD thesis defence. Characterisation of the human U3 snoRNP complex. Architecture, Biogenesis and nucleolar trafficking.
July 1, 2003 - July 1, 2006
Post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT in the laboratory of Dr. Susan J. Baserga
October 2, 2006 - February 28, 2011
Post-doctoral fellow at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the laboratory of Prof. David Tollervey.
March 1, 2011 - February 28, 2016
Assistant Professor and Group leader at the centre for Synthetic and Systems Biology, University of Edinburgh.
Funded by a Wellcome Trust Research and Career Development Fellow.
January 1, 2018 - February 23, 2024
Senior Research Fellow and Group leader at the centre for Synthetic and Systems Biology, University of Edinburgh.
Funded by an MRC non-clinical SRF.
August 1, 2020 - present
Reader (Associate Professor) and Group leader at the centre for Synthetic and Systems Biology, University of Edinburgh.
Funded by an MRC non-clinical SRF.
August 1, 2024 - present
Full Professor (Chair) in RNA Biochemistry and Group leader at the centre for Synthetic and Systems Biology, University of Edinburgh.
Miscellaneous
PLOS ONE academic editor from 2012- 2020
Co-organizer of the 2015 Ribosome synthesis meeting
Reviewer for PLoS ONE, EMBO journal, RNA, Molecular Cell and Nucleic Acids Research, Nature, Nature Communications.
Proficient Python programmer.
Teaching
Lecturer in the following courses:
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Biochemistry honours programme:
- Member of the exam board
- Setting synoptic exam
- Marking dissertations, grant proposals and exams.
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Lecturer in Gene Expression course:
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Translation in prokaryotes.
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Regulation of RNA decay.
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Microbial regulation of Gene Expression
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Post-transcriptional regulation in bacteria
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Biochemistry Masters B course:
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Ribosome synthesis.
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Translation.
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Tutorials.
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Structure and Function of proteins:
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Lectures on Structural analysis of Macromolecular Complexes.
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Protein purification tutorial.
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Tools for Synthetic Biology, masters course:
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Next Generation Sequencing.
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Riboswitches.
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Tutorials.
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Course organiser:
- Biochemical Techniques (year 4 Biochemistry honours programme)
Awards and Grants
EMBO short-term fellowship (ASTF No. 9781) for my work in Göttingen.
Leslie H. Warner Cancer Research fellowship (July 1, 2003 - June 30, 2004)
Anna Fuller Cancer Research fellowship (July 1, 2004 - June 30, 2005)
Anna Fuller Cancer Research fellowship (July 1, 2005 - June 30, 2006)
Brown Coxe Research fellowship (July 1, 2005 - June 30, 2006)
EMBO long-term fellowship (ALTF 69-2006; October 2, 2006 - October 1, 2007)
Marie Curie EIF fellowship (October 2, 2007 - October 1, 2009)
AAAS/Science Excellence in Science award (June 22, 2007)
Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellowship (RCDF) (2011 - 2016)
SULSA High-throughput small molecule screening grant (2012)
BBSRC Sparking award for technology development (2014)
Wellcome Trust ISSF award for technology development (2014)
Wellcome Trust Enhancement award (2014-2016)
Edinburgh School of Biological Sciences Research Excellence award (2015)
Medical Research Council Programme Grant (2024-2029)
References
Available upon request