PhD Projects

Our students are studying diverse areas of mechanistic biology in the following BBSRC strategic themes:

Advancing the frontiers of bioscience discovery:

1) Understanding the rules of life (formerly World Class Underpinning Bioscience)

2) Transformative technologies (formerly Exploiting New Ways of Working)

Tackling strategic challenges:

3) Bioscience for sustainable agriculture and food (formerly Agriculture and Food Security)

4) Bioscience for renewable resources and clean growth (formerly Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy)

These are the new BBSRC priority areas, taken from strategic document, “Forward look for UK Bioscience”, available on the BBSRC website:

https://bbsrc.ukri.org/documents/forward-look-for-uk-bioscience-pdf/

	Name	Project title
	Peter Chong University of York 2020	CryoEM and biochemistry-led discovery of protein nanopores for biotechnology (CASE)
	Patrick Hunter University of York 2020	Developing next generation bioimaging/biophotonics tools to dissect the immunological synapse in single cells, one molecule at a time
	Rory Elston University of York 2020	Understanding and exploiting bacterial sugar transporters for increased production of prebiotics (CASE)
	Lydia Barber University of York 2020	Understanding receptor clustering via multivalent ligand display (CASE)
	Miles Deans University of Leeds 2020	Using machine learning to identify aggregation resistant biopharmaceuticals (CASE)
	Bertie Blandy University of Leeds 2020	Dissecting mechanisms of mRNA translational control by specialised ribosomes
	Blythe Wright University of York 2020	Mechanistic dissection of interplay between membrane traffic and apoptosis by mutations in the endosomal sorting regulatory protein Vps45
	Ethan Redmond University of York 2020	The Circadian Clock in the Ageing Plant
	Jodie Malcolm University of York 2020	The selective control of tRNA gene transcription by steroid receptors in breast cancer
	Barbara Radzikowska University of York 2020	Daphniphyllum alkaloid (bio)synthesis
	Timothy Johnston University of York 2020	Role of Sulfiredoxin-1 in maintaining neuronal function and redox homeostasis
	Nathan Innard University of York 2020	Tracking anaerobic microbial community responses using a synthetic biology approach
	Lewis Byrom University of York 2020	Structure and function of CIZ1/RNA complexes
	Eleanor Briggs University of Sheffield 2020	Fungal ß-glucan cell wall biosynthesis (CASE)
	Emma White University of Sheffield 2020	Improving water-use efficiency in wheat by modulating leaf structure (CASE)
	Jessica Hurcum University of Sheffield 2020	Novel approaches for the identification of allosteric inhibitors of high value therapeutic targets (CASE)
	Pollyanna Rouse University of Sheffield 2020	Elucidating the cellular targets of BoNT/X a potentially novel biopharmaceutical (CASE)
	Derek Bell University of Sheffield 2020	Activators of microbial enzymes for enhanced C capture and decreased pathogen populations in arable soils.
	Victoria Hill University of Sheffield 2020	The Conformational Dynamics of Two-Way DNA Junctions: A common first step in aberrant DNA recognition?
	Karolina Pyrzanowska University of Sheffield 2020	Biochemical and structural basis of bacteriophage tail-associated hydrolases of Diabetic Foot Ulcer AMR pathogens
	Katy Boswell University of Sheffield 2020	Characterizing the key enhancers during the initiation of Neuroblastoma using Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
	Julian Adams University of Sheffield 2020	How increases in night-time temperature reduce seed yields
	Jack Riley University of Sheffield 2020	Regulatory potential of 3’UTR introns in stem cell differentiation
	Adam Hannan-Parker University of Sheffield 2020	The role of DNA methylation in regulating the plant immune system over varying time scales
	Aidan Johnson University of Leeds 2020	Structure-guided design of functional probes for TRPC1/4/5 channels
	Bethan Soanes University of Leeds 2020	Epigenetic temperature sensing in plants
	Katie Hardman University of Leeds 2020	Elucidating the Structure and Function of Mechanosensitive G-protein Coupled Receptors
	Michael Brigham University of Leeds 2020	Exploring the role of standalone tailoring enzymes within natural product pathways
	Jake Wheeler University of Leeds 2020	Developing chemical probes of histidine phosphorylation in eukaryotes
	Joseph McGrory University of York 2020	Investigating the dynamics of the TP228 plasmid segregation system
	Rowan Walters University of York 2020	Using cryoEM and functional biophysics to understand the mycobacterial bd oxidase, a key enzyme in tuberculosis
	Emma Campbell University of Leeds 2019	Protein Engineering of Synthetic Enzyme Switches for the Next Generation of Infectious-Disease and Toxin Diagnostics (i-CASE)
	Emily Bushby	Gestational and early-life dietary impacts on performance, welfare and gut-health in pigs
	Gregory Billenness University of Leeds 2017	Understanding Signalling Cascades using Affimer reagents (NPIF)
	James Webster University of Sheffield 2017	Biological systems approach to de novo design (NPIF)
	Hannah Spencer University of York 2017	Characterization of cell lines with engineered Golgi organization (NPIF)
	Sarah Lock University of York 2017	Hydrolase discovery in the extremophile Galdieria (NPIF)
	Danielle Lambert University of Sheffield 2017	Investigating the mechanisms of non-classical gastrin signalling in tumour development (NPIF)
	Ryan Hubball University of Leeds 2017	Designing a chemical 'toolbox' for the efficient inhibition of metalloenzymes (NPIF)
	Dorothy Hawkins University of York 2017	Structural characterisation of a bacteriophage DNA packaging motor using Cryo-Electron Microscopy (NPIF)
	Claire Brown University of York 2017	Influence of microbial community on nitrogen use efficiency in agriculture (NPIF)
	Anzar Asad University of Sheffield 2017	GPCR drug discovery using the zebrafish model (NPIF)
	Evelyn Smith University of Sheffield 2018	Analysis of neuronal kinesin-1 activation dynamics in response to cargo binding
	Kate Loveday University of Leeds 2018	The role of chikungunya virus nsP1 protein in virus replication
	Cheuk Yan (Joshua) Lee University of York 2018	Probing the epitranscriptome with nanopore sequencing (iCASE)
	Carmen Apostol University of Sheffield 2018	Structural investigation of hnRNP proteins using Cryo-EM
	Hannah Fisher University of Sheffield 2018	The Structure and Function of Clostridia Spores
	James Pitman University of Sheffield 2019	From metabolic markers to mechanism of growth suppression: understanding the molecular physiology of sprouting in potato (i-CASE)
	Rhys Woodfin University of York 2019	Plant metabolism and remediation of the explosive and pollutant TNT
	Catriona Walker University of Leeds 2018	The roles of phytohormones in carpic dominance and floral arrest