Lainey Williamson Email & Phone Number

Clermont-Ferrand, Fr

Chappes, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France

- Utilising protein engineering, computational modelling, and bioinformatics tools to improve the agronomic performance of target genes.- Limagrain is an agricultural cooperative and the fourth-largest seed company worldwide. Limagrain breeds, produces and distributes field seeds, vegetable seeds and agri-food products.

- Awarded Associate Fellow status of the UK Higher Education Academy after completing an academy-accredited programme of training in teaching and learning support spanning a one-year period.- Fellowship demonstrates a personal and institutional commitment to professionalism in learning and teaching in higher education, as well as an understanding of specific aspects of effective teaching and learning support methods.

Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom

- Competitively funded PhD in association with the BBSRC South West Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (SWBio DTP). - Utilised structural biology and protein biochemistry techniques to gain insight into the structure and function of pesticidal proteins for use as bioinsecticides and in transgenic crops.- Involved in various stages of structural characterisation (including sample production, diffraction data collection and analysis) of Cry, Tpp, Mpp, App, and Xpp bacterial pesticidal proteins using serial femtosecond crystallography in an ongoing collaboration with researchers from DESY and the European XFEL. - Elucidated the structure of the first bacterial pesticidal protein-receptor complex using cryoEM in collaboration with researchers from Monash University. - Contributed towards four peer-reviewed, including one first-author, publications. - Presented at several international conferences including the Lorne Conference on Protein Structure and Function (Lorne, Australia) and the International Congress on Invertebrate Pathology and Microbial Control (Maryland, USA). - Invited speaker at the BioXFEL International Conference (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and the Structural Biology Seminar Series of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) of Medical Research (Melbourne, Australia).- Gained experience in molecular cloning, recombinant protein expression and purification, use of AKTA purification systems, site-directed mutagenesis, protein engineering using non-canonical amino acids, X-ray crystallography, serial femtosecond crystallography, diffraction data analysis using CCP4, cryoEM, computational modelling including molecular docking and molecular dynamics using the Rosetta and GROMACS software suites, and general wet lab techniques.

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

- Visiting researcher in the laboratory of Associate Professor Michelle Dunstone at the Biomedicine Discovery Institute. - Utilised cryo-electron microscopy techniques to gain insight into membrane-spanning pores and toxin-receptor complexes produced by pesticidal proteins.

Chappes, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France

- Utilised structural biology and computational modelling tools to improve the agronomic performance of target genes.- Limagrain is an agricultural cooperative and the fourth-largest seed company worldwide.

Cardiff University

- Research project investigating the role of the glutathione redox balance in Alzheimer’s disease phenotypes.- Gained experience in fly husbandry and genetics, protein quantification, immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy. - Engaged with the public by acting as a tour guide at the official opening of the UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff. - Led a FlyTech symposium aimed at introducing undergraduates to classical and cutting-edge genetic techniques in Drosophila.- Results were presented at the UK-Japan Dementia conference and were used in a grant application leading to the award of a fully-funded GW4 BioMed MRC PhD studentship.

Murray Lab

- Summer research project involving the expression and testing of two novel bioreporters for bioluminescence and magnetic resonance. - Gained experience in molecular cloning, recombinant protein expression and purification, magnetic resonance imaging and bioluminescence assays.

Integrated Phd And Msc, Biochemistry

Structural analysis of pesticidal proteins and their interactions with target receptors. Experienced in molecular cloning, recombinant.

Mbiochem - Integrated Bachelor'S And Master'S Degree, Biochemistry, First-Class.

Activities and Societies: Venues Assistant at Cardiff University Students Union, member of Cardiff University Rowing Club and Cardiff.