NHC Team
Professor Vikki Rand
Director of National Horizons Centre and Professor of Biosciences
Vikki is responsible for leading the NHC's development as a centre of excellence for the biosciences and healthcare sectors, working in partnership with industry, the NHS and other stakeholders to ensure that provision is driven by current and planned needs for research, innovation, skills and talent.
Professor John Young
Professor of Translational Healthcare
John is tackling prevalent and impactful diseases of the urinary tract - creating new devices that enable early diagnosis, discovering new drug targets and developing educational resources for patients, carers and healthcare professionals. Outside of urology, he is involved in biomarker discovery, development, evaluation and implementation projects with healthcare, biotech and pharmaceutical sectors.
Professor Linda Popplewell
Professor of Genetic Medicine
Linda's research focuses on the pre-clinical development of gene therapies for rare diseases, in particular those affecting the neuromuscular system, including the muscular dystrophies and the childhood cancer neurofibromatosis type 1. The technologies being used include vector-mediated gene addition, endonuclease-mediated gene editing, antisense oligonucleotide (AO)-induced exon skipping and gene silencing.
Steve Bagshaw, CBE
Chief Industry Advisor
As Chief Industry Advisor, Steve helps the National Horizons Centre keep abreast of latest developments in the life sciences field, ensuring its training and research meet the needs of business. Steve is the Manufacturing Lead on the UK Vaccines Taskforce and a former chief executive of FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies. In January 2021, he was made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in recognition of his services to the UK Manufacturing and Biotechnology Sector.
Daniel Shenton
Head of Continuing Professional Development
After completing his BSc Applied Biology at Northumbria University, Daniel worked for 9 years in FUJIFILM Diosynth Technologies in Billingham. Daniel starting as a Production Technologist in Microbial DSP before creating a training and improvements role in mammalian cell culture working with both upstream and downstream single-use technologies. Before joining the NHC, Daniel had progressed into a Lead Production Technologist management role in mammalian cell culture, managing both people and plant.
Connor Foster
SENIOR BIOPROCESSING TRAINER AND TRAINING COORDINATOR
After completing a BSc at Newcastle University, Connor has worked in a variety of roles including a QC/veterinary lab technician in the highlands of Scotland and as a cell production technologist at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies in Billingham. Working in the MCC facility, Connor performed a variety of upstream and downstream activities to produce active proteins for use in therapeutics.
JAPHET Juanillo
BIOPROCESSING TRAINING OFFICER
Japhet completed his BSc in Biomedical Sciences at Northumbria University before joining the Mammalian Cell Culture team at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies in Billingham. As part of his role, Japhet was heavily involved in all activities associated with mammalian culture – from cell line recovery and revival to protein purification and final fill of bulk drug substances. Prior to joining the NHC, Japhet specialised in downstream processing as a Senior Production Technologist.
Elizabeth Frank
Bioprocessing Training Officer
After completing a BSc in Biology at Northumbria University, Elizabeth worked in drug development before joining FUJIFILM Diosynth in Billingham as a Production Technologist. As part of this role, Elizabeth worked in the Mammalian Cell Culture facility, where she played a pivotal role in executing a range of upstream and downstream activities to produce active biopharmaceuticals.
Dann Cooley
Operations and Facilities Manager
Dann is responsible for the day-to-day running of the NHC, ensuring it's smooth operation. Dann is from a technical, person and facilities management background with a focus on practical skills development and innovation in the sporting environment.
Dr Alex Newman
Scientific Experimental Officer in Genomics
Alex's research focuses on the application of state-of-the-art technology and integrated multi-omics data analysis to understand cancer relapse in order to identify prognostic biomarkers.
Dr Peixun Zhou
Scientific Experimental Officer in Cell & Molecular Biology
Peixun's research interests include next-generation sequencing analysis of aggressive cancers and the application of cutting-edge lab techniques (such as CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing) to understand the biology of cancer and response to therapy.
Dr Claire Jennings
Scientific Experimental Officer in Mass Spectrometry
Claire uses proteomic methods to address key questions across bioprocessing, biopharmaceuticals, biotechnology and healthcare. Claire's research interests are focused on detection, characterisation and quantitation of analytes for drug discovery, clinical and structural proteomics.
Dr Nicole Darling
Scientific Experimental Officer in Biomedicine
Nicole has expertise across biomedicine and experience of working in and with industry and academia. Her research interests are in in vitro modelling of healthy and diseased human tissues to reduce the use of animals in research. Specific areas of expertise includes 3D cell culture and in vitro assay optimisation, as well as histological and molecular biology-based analysis.
Alumni
Dr Katy Chamberlain
Katy is an igneous petrologist and volcanologist specialising in the interpretation of pre-eruptive magmatic evolution using geochemical analyses of erupted products. She has worked all over the world, studying super-eruptive processes in the Bishop Tuff, ocean island volcanism at Ascension Island, and subduction zones processes in the Southern Volcano Zone of Chile.
Dr Amber Collings
Amber’s background is a mix of forensic biology and anthropology, comparative functional anatomy and evolution, virtual anthropology, and biomechanics.
Dr Priyanka Dey
Priyanka's research focusses on ways to further the potential of nano-gold bio-imaging agents and Raman spectroscopy for clincially-relevant cancer diagnosis.
Dr Nick Duggett
Nick's research focusses on antimicrobial resistance, whole gneome sequencing of microbes and investigating detection of human pathogens in livestock.
Dr Pei San (Sharel) E
Peisan's research focuses on areas of nanoscale/microscale electrochemistry, development of electrochemical sensor and electrochemical energy storage.
Mahmudal Hassan
Mahmudal's research focusses on the development of new approaches in bioprocessing training andn processes using virtual reality.
Dr Rochelle Hockney
Rochelle's research focusses on women's health, neonates and the microbiome.
Dr Graeme Horsman
Graeme's research focusses on digital and computer forensics and application of emerging technologies.
Javeria Mehboob
Javeria studied at the NHC and has interests in mass spectrometry. She moved onto an IBioIC FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies BBSRC CTP funded PhD at the University of York co-supervised with Teesside University.
Dr Fatemeh Moheimani
Fatemeh's research interests are to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying Respiratory diseases (e.g. asthma), with the goal to provide novel and more effective interventions.
Dr Jackie Mosely
Jackie applies mass spectrometry to small molecule characterisation, identification of novel chemical protein modifications, lipid analyses and synthetic polymer analysis.
Birbal Prasad
Birbal completed his Marie Curie funded PhD in biomarker discovery for gliomas using bioinformatics and statistical learning approaches at the NHC. Birbal moved onto a postdoctoral post at the University of Oxford.
Nanda Puspita
Nanda's research focusses on testing methods of making mycoprotein, the main ingredient in all Quorn products, that would lead to an even more sustainable production methodology and enhancements to product quality.
Dr Edward Rollason
Ed's research interests focus on the nature of catchments and their communities as connected socio-ecological systems, and how we can develop and promote integrated approaches to management that embed resilience into everyday management activities.
Dr Chibuzo Uzoigwe
Chibuzo's reseach focusses on the application of mass spectrometry to analyse different samples, such as assessing acrylamide levels in food.
Sharon Robertson
Before joining the NHC Sharon worked as a science secondary school teacher, specialising in biology. Prior to this, she worked for 20 years at Sartorius Stedim Biotechnology.
Jo Fisher
Jo was responsible for providing operational support to the NHC and played a central role in liaising with external business partners, coordinating events and finance.
Our Researchers
Dr Ojodomo Achadu
Disease specific research
Ojodomo’ s research primarily focuses on the development of disease diagnostic and clinical application of nanobiosensors for infectious pathogens and neurodegenerative diseases, with a specialization in nanotechnology-driven Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy techniques, and nanomaterials/materials chemistry and engineering.
Dr Safwan Akram
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Safwan is responsible for the NHC's enterprise and business engagement activities, linking academics with external organisations. Safwan's current research is working towards the development of low-cost diagnostics for point of care, working in collaboration with local pharmaceutical companies to bring down the cost of biopharmaceuticals.
Dr Kamar Ameen-Ali
Disease specific research
Kam is interested in understanding how neuroinflammation can be a driver for the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer's, which lead to dementia.
Professor Claudio Angione
Disease specific research
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Claudio is a professor In computer science and has research interests in using machine learning to model data including genome-scale metaboloc modelling in diseases and pathogens.
Dr Ambroise Baker
Sustainable Planet
Ambroise’s research focuses on how plants, biodiversity and complex ecosystems respond to environmental change. Answering this question is critical to developing evidence-based policies to protect the environment and human well-being in the context of global change.
Dr Lisa Baldini
Sustainable Planet
Lisa's research interests span palaeoclimate reconstruction using biogenic and inorganic carbonates, modern stable isotope systematics in meteoric precipitation and groundwater, and using geochemical fingerprinting to trace human impacts on the environment.
Dr Jamie Bojko
Sustainable Planet
Jamie’s research involves screening for and systematically identifying the symbionts of animal hosts (primarily Crustacea and Mollusca). With a focus on Microsporidia, bacteria and viruses. Jamie uses histological, electron microscopy, molecular diagnostic, and metagenomic methods to better understand the microbiomes of invertebrate hosts. These data are used to develop disease ecology models to understand how diseases transmit and impact host activity and behaviour.
Dr Helen Carney
Sustainable Planet
Helen’s research spans environmental microbiology and industrial biotechnology and aims to detect and isolate bacterial strains with unique and beneficial properties that can be used in waste treatment and manufacturing. Helen has particular interest in the isolation and detection of Acidithiobacillus and other iron oxidising bacteria that contribute to acid mine drainage arising from both anthropogenic and natural processes.
Professor Stephen Cummings
Disease specific research
Steve's research studies how complex microbial communities are implicated in a number of diseases, so called polymicrobial infections.
Dr Mohammad Dadashipour
Disease specific research
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Mohammad is an expert in biotechnology with research interests in enzyme and protein biotechnology, enzyme and protein discovery and engineering for biotechnology, medical and pharmaceutical applications.
Dr Desire Dalton
Sustainable Planet
Desire has a background in human and animal genetics as well as forensics. Her research focuses on conducting multidisciplinary research to determine the genetic integrity of populations and she has contributed to the genetic management of wildlife species and populations in Africa.
Dr Paul Dean
Disease specific research
Paul's research centres around the mechanisms of pathogen evolution, how they infect us and how our cells respond to them. He has extensive experience with medically-important bacterial and fungal pathogens – such as E.coli, Microsporidia and Salmonella
Dr Maria Dimopoulou
Sustainable Planet
Maria’s research addresses food wastes and food sustainability with a focus on biopolymers including the relationship between their structure and physicochemical properties as well as their functionality and innovative applications.
Dr Adrian Dye
Sustainable Planet
Adrian is a lecturer and researcher who is particularly interested in glacial and periglacial environments, remote sensing and GIS. He is a keen environmentalist and promotes sustainability wherever possible.
Dr Godwin Ebiloma
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Godwin's research focuses on identifying parasite-specific molecular targets for drug and vaccine development against neglected tropical diseases.
Dr Andrew English
Disease specific research
Andy's research is focused on the discovery and validation of protein biomarkers which could improve the management of acute and chronic kidney disease patients.
Dr Chris Ennis
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Sustainable Planet
Chris' research interests are in sustainable technology, especially related to carbon mitigation, utilisation of biochar and environmental protection.
Dr Amin Farshchi
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Amin is a lecturer in food science and technology, with research interests including food processing, food structure, emulsions and complex formulated products.
Dr Hong Gao
Disease specific research
Hong's research focusses on synthetic biology, natural products and bioproduction optimisation.
Dr Nur Haliza Hassan
Sustainable Planet
Nur Haliza has exprtise and experience covering various aspects of laboratory examination and analysis in forensic biology and DNA profiling on biological samples.
Dr Jibin He
Sustainable Planet
Jibin’s research is focused on developing a more sustainable and environmentally responsible human food chain. The current food production system feeding our society stems from the Industrial Revolution with undeniable negative environmental impacts. Jibin’s current research primarily addresses the dependence of the current food system on dairy products and microplastics to seek out alternative solutions.
Dr Jens Holtvoeth
Sustainable Planet
Jens is a geoscientist, specialising in (paleo)environmental research, biogeochemistry and geobiology, with experience in environmental geoscience.
Dr Ruzaina Binti Ishak
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Dr Ruzaina's research interests and specialisation are mainly in food ingredients, including: formulation, processing, packaging, emulsion, fats and oil and manufacturing products.
Professor Meez Islam
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Meez's research focusses on the development and application of novel optical spectroscopy based techniques, in particular liquid-phase broadband cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy (BBCEAS) and hyperspectral imaging in a forensic context.
Dr Md Nazmul Islam
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Nazmul's research mainly focuses on developing novel biosensor based platforms for personalised diagnostics of diseases.
Gemma Jeffries
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Gemma’s current research focuses on investigating the industrial production of active inclusion body proteins in E. coli. Gemma uses high throughput technologies, such as the Ambr® 250 automated bioreactor system and cutting-edge RNA-seq to better understand the control and molecular architecture of inclusion body formation.
Dr Maria Angeles Juanes Ortiz
Disease specific research
Maria's main research interests are to understand how cytoskeleton networks coordinate cell migration and division and how their dysfunction leads to human diseases. Her goal is to discover novel biomarkers for early diagnosis and identify new molecules to personalise therapies for diseases including Cancer.
Dr Kalesh Karunakaran
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Kalesh’s research uses synthetic organic chemistry to generate functional tools that facilitate understanding of living systems. Specifically, in the area of chemical proteomics, his research develops and apply small molecule chemical probes to understand the functions of proteins.
Dr Ahmad Khundakar
Disease specific research
Ahmad's research focuses on investigating the molecular and pathological mechanisms behind neurodegenerative illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s, dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson's disease, as well as depression.
Dr Shweta Kuba
Disease specific research
Shweta's research interests include genetic disease modelling with pluripotent stem cells for drug target delivery, musculoskeletal diseases and developmental disorders, Spatio-temporal regulation of RNA- binding proteins in developmental disorders, and association of altered patterns of mRNA decay with ageing.
Dr Vasileios Panagiotis Lenis
Digital Analytics and Machine Learning
Vasileios' research interests lie in a wide range of fields in biological and biomedical sciences, from comparative genomics and evolutionary studies to neuroscience research and personalised medicine.
Dr Xinzhong Li
Digital Analytics and Machine Learning
Xinzhong's research interests lies in system biology and bioinformatics, including machine learning and next-generation sequencing.
Dr Bruno Silvester Lopes
Disease specific research
Bruno's research focuses on antobiotic resistance and the molecular epidemiology of pathogens such as Klebsiella spp and Helicobacter pylori.
Dr Craig McBeth
Disease specific research
Craig is a lecturer in biomedical sciences and his research interests are in bioelectrical engineering, biochemistry and cellular biology.
Dr Amy Miller
Sustainable Planet
Amy is a lecturer in biological sciences with research interests in animal science, including alleviation of pain and distress and animal welfare challenges.
Professor Gary Montague
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Gary's research focusses on the development and application of systems techniques to make a practical difference to the process and bioprocess industrial sectors.
Dr Alexander Newman
Disease specific research
Alex's research focusses on the application of state-of-the-art technology and integrated multi-omics data analysis to understand cancer relapse in order to identify prognostic biomarkers.
Dr Annalisa Occhipinti
Disease specific research
Annalisa is senior lecturer in data analytics. Her research interests are computational biology and machine learning applications in cancer research with a specific focus on early detection.
Dr Caroline Orr
Disease specific research
Sustainable Planet
Caroline’s primary research interests are in analysing the structure of microbial communities, the functional interactions between microbes and their environments, and the impact of environmental change on microbially-driven processes. Caroline applies her expertise in microbiology to diverse systems including agricultural soil, anaerobic digestion, archaeological environments, and human systems.
Dr Rodney Owusu-Darko
Sustainable Planet
Rodney is particularly interested in multidisciplinary research and sustainable solutions to improve livelihoods. From agrarian science to food science and technology, he has experience and interests in the intersection between food safety and security, health and policy systems.
Helen Page
Sustainable Planet
Helen's research interests include the recovery of biological evidence from unusual samples including from bathwater and personal cleaning implements.
Dr Kerry Pettigrew
Disease specific research
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Kerry's research interests are in genetic epidemiology including association testing, genotyping, human disease and traits, using cutting edge approaches for bacterial DNA sequencing (Illumina, Oxford Nanopore, infection control) and quantitative social sciences studying the impact on health and climate and inequalities.
Dr Panagiota Philippou
Disease specific research
Giota's research focusses include Cancer biomarker discovery for early diagnosis and monitoring, the identification of new targets in Cancer therapeutics and the patient’s response to Cancer therapy.
Professor Linda Popplewell
Disease specific research
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Linda's research focuses on the pre-clinical development of gene therapies for rare diseases, in particular those affecting the neuromuscular system, including the muscular dystrophies and the childhood cancer neurofibromatosis type 1. The technologies being used include vector-mediated gene addition, endonuclease-mediated gene editing, antisense oligonucleotide (AO)-induced exon skipping and gene silencing.
Professor Vikki Rand
Disease specific research
Vikki is responsible for leading the NHC's development as a centre of excellence for the biosciences and healthcare sectors, working in partnership with industry, the NHS and other stakeholders to ensure that provision is driven by current and planned needs for research, innovation, skills and talent.
Dr Sreejith Raveendran
DISEASE SPECIFIC RESEARCH
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Sree is a Nanoscientist, whose primary focus is on the development of novel strategies in combination therapeutics against cancers and studying its toxicology. He uses multimodule targeting patterns using novel vectors and investigates cancer cellular dynamics using various advanced research tools like 3D electron microscopy. His approaches are truly interdisciplinary in addressing cancer therapy and diagnosis.
Cassy Ross
Disease specific research
Cassy's research focuses on understanding the human gut microbiome in health and disease, particularly in preterm infants using cutting edge technologies such as next generation sequencing.
Dr Mosharraf Sarker
Disease specific research
Mosharraf is a human biologist whose research interests lie in the understanding of mammalian cell signalling mechanism to inflammation and oxidative stress.
Dr Tora Smulders-Srinivasan
Disease specific research
Tora's current research is exploring the possible roles of mitochondrial defects in Parkinson’s disease, using Drosophila (fruit fly) models.
Dr Gillian Taylor
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Sustainable Planet
Gillian is responsible for the day-to-day running of the NHC, ensuring its smooth operation. Gillian's own research has a focus on the development of analytical techniques, specifically mass spectrometry towards forensic and archaeological applications.
Professor Tim Thompson
Digital Analytics and Machine Learning
Tim's main areas of research focus on the human body and how it changes, particularly in the modern context.
Dr Helen Tidy
Sustainable Planet
Helen’s research mainly focusses on the use of fibres as a forensic evidence type, looking at aspects such as how the transfer and retention of fibres or the photodegradation of them affects the evidential interpretation for the court of law. She also researches other areas within the forensic field as well as Learning and Teaching techniques.
Dr Rhys Williams
Digital Analytics and Machine Learning
Rhys's research focusses on imaging in archaeology, including digitalising Vindolanda.
Dr David Wright
Sustainable Planet
David's research interests are in microbiology, specifically, relating to how an ecological perspective can be used to inform both medically and environmentally focused research projects
POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS
Bello Abubakar
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Genetic modification of pseudomonas putida (XylM, xylS and xylR) genes for effective bioremediation of oil spill
Kent Adamson
Digital Analytics and Machine Learning
Degraded and degrading: Understanding diagenetic processes in commingled graves from contexts of mass violence
Ahmad Alkawi
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
The development of mass spectrometry based diagnosis
Amy Burgess
Sustainable Planet
Tracking a demon virus: Exploring viral evolution along the invasion route of the demon shrimp, dikerogammarus haemobaphes
Lucy Butler
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Production and characterisation of normal compounds for use in haemostasis testing
Popi Chrysostomou
Digital Analytics and Machine Learning
Morphoscopic and morphometric methodological approaches for segregating commingled human remains
Libby Clements
Disease specific research
Impact of NICU treatment on health outcomes for preterm infants
Nathan Coles
Disease specific research
Understanding the pathology underpinning dementia through the examination of phosphorylation patterns
Matthew Crowther
Digital Analytics and Machine Learning
Non-contact light and hyperspectral scanning of biological and chemical samples for forensic analysis
Priscilla Ferreira Ulguim
Digital Analytics and Machine Learning
The fire, the body and the people: The funerary practice of cremation in the southern Brazilian Highlands
Dom Gilchrist
Disease specific research
Characterisation and identification of human pathogen and parasite transporter proteins
Hrafnhildur Halldorsdottir
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Multidisciplinary approaches to the investigation of preservation processes at the Roman Site of Vindolanda, Northumberland, UK
Md Islam
Disease specific research
Health policy and hospital wastage management: Perspective of Bangladesh
Anthony Jackson
Digital Analytics and Machine Learning
Vehicle telematics data: The forensic implications of legally obtaining data from vehicles and the applicable procedures for doing so
Maria O'Hanlon
Disease specific research
The roles of mitochondrial proteins in Parkinson's disease
David Oluwadare
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Evaluation of uptake and utilization of soil available zinc in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from seaweed fertilizer application: Employment of isotopic technique
Agatha Quesnel
Disease specific research
Deciphering the potential interplay between matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and the mucin 4 (MUC 4) in glioblastoma molecular mechanisms and diagnostics
Janice Rafraf
Digital Analytics and Machine Learning
Regulation of illegal imagery
Chris Robinson
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
The development of phosphine/phosphine oxide redox-based organocatalyst
Nafeesa Shahdab
Disease specific research
Novel approaches to target airway epithelium remodelling in asthmatics
Anirudh Sharma
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
Applications of shape selective mass spectrometry
Rebecca Strong
Digital Analytics and Machine Learning
Application of geometric morphometric analysis to the identification process of unknown individuals
Muta Tah Hira
Disease specific research
An integrated experimental modelling and machine learning framework for poly-omic characterisation of ovarian cancer
Aboli Valve
Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology
A study on transfer and persistence of textiles in the archaeological environment