-Developing the scale-up of extracellular vesicle (EV) based therapeutics derived from immortalised clonally-selected human stem cells-Leading the development of potency assays to test the bioactivity and functionality of our therapeutic product-Working as a team to implement novel characterisation strategies to assess Critical Quality Attributes (CQAs)-Investigating the functional properties of our EVs in the treatment of diseases, with a focus on arthritis-Identifying and engaging business partners in line with the strategic direction of Mesenbio

-Research focuses on improving therapeutic monoclonal antibody production in CHO cells as part of collaborative grants funded by UKRI and FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDBK)-Developed project targeting cell death pathways in fed-batch cultures from identifying biomarkers, optimising inhibitors through to execution using a high-throughput Ambr® 15 bioreactor -Lead the investigation into the impact of an overexpressed gene on antibody productivity in CHO cells grown in adherent cultures, improving antibody productivity by 50% -Designed study characterising organelle levels during bioreactor growth using multiple cell biology techniques and collaboration with bioinformaticians at the University of Edinburgh-Coordinated and participated in five 14-day fed-batch bioreactor experiments at FDBK, interacting with scientists across the Process Development and Analytical departments-Engineered multiple different cell lines from vector construction through to stable-cell transformation and statistically analysed their impact on project outcome variables-Supervised project student in the planning and implementation of a glyco-engineering strategy and liaised with FDBK scientists to test cell lines using the Ambr® 15 over an agreed timeline

-Research project focussed on characterising NET4B, a novel actin-vacuole linker in plant cells-Utilised several different experimental techniques including molecular biology, confocal microscopy, genetic analysis and protein-protein interaction studies-Organised research activities and prioritised experimental approaches to successfully complete my PhD within four years-Critically reviewed the literature of similar proteins and cellular processes to develop a hypothetical model for the function of NET4B in plant cells-Worked as part of a wider team within the group and contributed data towards high-impact publications-Assisted in teaching first and second year undergraduate practical classes as part of the Biology Undergraduate course-Presented my research to a range of audiences at national and international conferences, as well as at outreach events at local schools-Awarded 'Best Poster' at the Annual School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences event 2015, and received a £400 travel grantPublications:M.J. Deeks, J.R. Calcutt, E.K.S. Ingle, T.J. Hawkins, S. Chapman, A.C. Richardson, D.A. Mentlak, M.R. Dixon, F. Cartwright, A.P. Smertenko. A superfamily of actin-binding proteins at the actin-membrane nexus of higher plants. Current Biology, 22 (2012), pp. 1595-1600.