Team:Exeter/Team
From 2012.igem.org
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The Exeter Undergraduate Team is also joined by a Nuffield Foundation Student and is supported by a dedicated team of Post-Doctoral Staff from the University's Department of Biosciences, where the team have # made their home for the summer. We would also like to acknowledge the support from our close collaborators in both the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, and the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, along with the many others from within and around the University who have helped us to realise the potential of our iGEM project. |
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Our Nuffield Foundation Team Member | |
Chris Hack
I’m an A-level student from Honiton College studying Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Maths and hoping to go on and study Medicine. I’m working with the iGEM team for six weeks through the summer to get a better insight into the world of research and see what University life is like. I play football on Sundays and try to play squash whenever I get the chance. |
Our Post-Doctoral Support | |
Dr Thomas Howard
Metabolic pathways run synchronously within the cell and compete with each other for energy and metabolites. How these processes are coordinated, especially in response to altered demand or environmental perturbation ultimately impacts on growth and development. My interests lie in understanding how these pathways and networks are constructed, how they interact and how their responses are regulated. I have a particular interest in the role of protein complexes in metabolic regulation. As part of my work I employ synthetic biology approaches to redesign and build metabolic pathways. I am currently coordinating the first University of Exeter entry into the iGEM competition. |
Dr Christine Sambles
As a bioinformatician in the Wellcome Trust Biomedical Informatics Hub, I analyse genomic (Roche 454 and Illumina) and transcriptomic sequence data (Illumina RNAseq) of a range of organisms including yeasts, algae, higher plants, and bacteria. Processes include de novo and reference-guided assembly, metatranscriptomics, gene prediction, annotation, comparative genomics, co-expression networking, SNP analysis and phylogenetics. I create and curate several databases and websites that utilise MySQL/PostgreSQL, PHP, HTML and Perl including genome browsers, transcriptome databases and LIMS. Additionally I train PDRAs, PhD and undergraduate students in aspects of bioinformatics analyses, visualisation of complex data and programming and am an instructor for the Exeter iGEM 2012 team. |
Dr Rafael Pena-Miller
I am a Mexican postdoctoral research fellow working with Prof. Robert Beardmore. My training is in mathematics and I am interested in using quantitative tools from engineering and mathematical systems theory to study microbial evolution. My main research interest is to construct genetic and metabolic models of individual bacterial cells interacting through the environment. The purpose of these models is to predict population-level behavior from single-cell information with the aim of controlling complex ecological and evolutionary processes. In particular, my research focuses on the design of optimal antibiotic deployment protocols that minimize conditions promoting the evolution of antimicrobial resistance. |