Emerging technology scouting and market intelligence for life sciences industries and beyond, including in vitro diagnostics at point-of-care, bio-based plastics, wearable electronic skin patches, and cultured meats.

Blast traumatic brain injury (blast TBI) is a critical cause of mortality and morbidity in military personnel. The characteristics of neuronal loss and neuroinflammation in the thalamus, a deep brain structure responsible for information relay, is poorly understood. I used ImageJ analysis software to analyse the neuronal cell density and astrogliosis in rats that received blast TBI from a shock tube protocol. I found that the thalamus is less sensitive to changes in neuronal density and this may be because of the activation of neuroprotective astrocytes following injury.

CD4+ T cells are critical for the response to SARS-CoV-2 infection in severe COVID-19 yet how they might contribute to the pathogenesis of COVID-19 is not well understood. The virus S protein is responsible for cell binding and entry; the cause of the high infectivity of COVID-19. S protein contains a Furin-like recognition site which can be cleaved by host protease Furin. It was recently shown that severe patient activated CD4+ T cells express Furin at higher levels. This suggests a potential mechanism via which CD4+ T cells inadvertently contribute to pathogenesis. I investigated the expression of Furin in mouse CD4+ T cells when activated via the T cell receptor, by in-silico analysis of microarray data, and by FACS analysis and qPCR analysis of in vitro, TCR activated T cells. I show that activated mouse CD4+ T cells upregulate the protease Furin. To investigate the significance of the Furin in S protein cleavage, I design a novel chimeric protein with a fragment of the Furin-like cleavage site, and amplified this in DH5a cells and transfected into CHO cells. Supervisors: Dr Bahire Kalfaoglu, Dr Masahiro Ono

The role of metabolism in the CNS during development is poorly understood. The Physiology and Metabolism Lab of Alex Gould established a model of the developing CNS of Drosophila under hypoxia and nutrient starvation. I investigated metabolic stores of Drosophila neural stem cells and glial cells, pursuing a discovery reported by the Helene Duez Lab, in order to understand the metabolic cooperation within the stem cell niche during development or starvation. Supervisors: Dr Adrien Franchet, Dr Alex GouldDrosophila rearing and screening, dissection and fixing of CNS, confocal microscopy

One developing strategy for combatting malaria is the gene drive. Current drives suffer from the emergence of resistant genes (causing a reversal of the drive) by lack of spatiotemporal regulation of the drive system. A suggested approach to regulate this is a riboswitch-based system that blocks Cas9 binding except in the presence of a trigger protein. I cloned and amplified plasmids carrying these systems within DH5a cells. Supervised by Dr Roberto Galizi.Molecular biology lab work, including PCR cloning, transformation, amplification, gel screeningRearing mosquitos (Anopheles gambiae), including screening for sex and for reporter fluorescent proteins.

Building 3D models of Acanthodian fossils from CT scans on Mimics 19.0. Differentiating key species unique features; followed by animating the models on Blender in order for presentation in conferences and thesis. Supervised by Dr Richard Dearden, Dr Martin Brazeau