James Sheffield Email and Phone Number

I received my B.Sc. in biological science, specializing in Molecular and Cellular biology (graduating with honors) from the University of Exeter, United Kingdom. During my undergraduate degree, I undertook various research projects and in the summer between my second and third year of my degree, I was offered an internship position at an epigenetic based company in California, Active Motif. I also did a capstone experiment in high school using the CRISPR/Cas system. Since that experiment, I become fascinated by the potential capabilities this system has in treating genetic disorders. In my final year of University, I was given the opportunity to complete a dissertation. For my dissertation, it was focused on using a transient gene expression method called Agroinfiltration to fluorescently tag plant cell’s actin cytoskeleton with GFP to capture actin dynamics along with papillae formations in response to powdery mildew infections. From my research, I created a repeatable protocol for the lab to use to research this dynamic plant response to fungal infections. After completing this research, my dissertation professor offered me an internship to expand my research where I used my designed protocol to tag multiple proteins and observe their dynamics in papillae formations. I was also offered a second internship from a separate lab that was focused on bacteriophage collection and categorization across the UK for phage therapy. During the internship, I designed a phage collection system which is now the design used within the phage collection kits. In high school, I had the opportunity to design an experiment for a capstone to research the capabilities of the CRISPR/Cas system. My experiment consisted of using SureVector, a plasmid assembly technique, to design plasmids containing specific antibiotic resistance genes. Then, using Cas9 RNP, I cut and linearized one of the plasmids containing the kanamycin gene, decreasing transformation efficiency, removing E. coli’s ability to grow on agar containing kanamycin. The summer between my second and third year of University, I was offered the opportunity to work in an epigenetics focused company called Active Motif as an intern. I worked within the services department mainly helping format data, perform qPCR, immunoprecipitation, NGS library prep, Gel electrophoresis, TapeStation, Nanodrop, and sonication of client samples. I will be starting my Ph.D. at the University of Sheffield on the 1st of October, 2024.