Postgraduate Students
Name: Imran Ali
Email: iali02@qub.ac.uk
Position: Second Year PhD student
Supervisors: Dr. Derek P. Brazil and Professor. Alan W. Stitt
Funding: DEL
Education: BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science, Queen’s University Belfast, 2009
Current Project: Investigating outgrowth endothelial cells response to hypoxia
Key Piece of Equipment: Coy Hypoxia chamber
My Perfect Lab Day is: analysing consistent data that clarifies my hypothesis….oh and an unhealthy dose of sugar!
Name: James Bojdo
Email: jbojdo01@qub.ac.uk
Position: First year PhD student
Supervisors: Dr Sandra McAllister, Dr Reinhold Medina and Professor Alan Stitt
Funding: DEL
Education: MRes in Tissue Engineering for Regenerative Medisine, University of Manchester, 2012. and BSc (Hons) Physiology, University of Liverpool, 2010.
Current Project: Investigating endothelial progenitor cells in wound healing
Key Piece of Equipment: Tissue culture hood
My Perfect Lab Day is: Seeing microvessel networks in my scaffolds!
Name: Eoin Brown
Email: ebrown91@qub.ac.uk
Position: First Year PhD student
Supervisors: Dr. David Simpson and Dr. Tim Curtis
Funding: DEL
Education: BSc (Hons) Anatomy, Queen’s University Belfast, 2011
Current Project: Use of extracellular vesicles for the transfer of siRNA/miRNAs into endothelial cells to modify their angiogenic responses
Key Piece of Equipment: LightCycler 480
My Perfect Lab Day is: Nothing beats setting up a plate of RT-qPCR
Email: kburch02@qub.ac.uk
Position: PhD Student
Supervisors: Dr David Grieve & Dr Brian Green
Funding: British Heart Foundation
Education: BSc Biomedical Science at Queens University (2012)
Current Project: Investigation of novel actions of the gastrointestinal peptide obestatin on hyperglycaemia and vascular dysfunction in experimental diabetes
Key Piece of Equipment: Organ bath
My Perfect Lab Day is: When I can get all 8 rings on the organ bath to respond the way they should!
Name: Rachel Church
Email: rchurch01@qub.ac.uk
Position: First Year Postgraduate Research Student
Supervisors: Dr. Derek P. Brazil and Professor. Alan W. Stitt
Funding: BBSRC CASE/Astra Zeneca
Education: MPharm, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast, 2010
Current Project: Elucidating the molecular mechanisms by which the bone morphogenetic protein antagonist Gremlin 1 contributes to diabetic kidney disease
Key Piece of Equipment: Biacore Q
My Perfect Lab Day is: Learning something new and expanding my knowledge base
Name: Orla Galvin
Email: ogalvin01@qub.ac.uk
Position: Second Year PhD student
Supervisors: Dr. Denise McDonald and Dr. Tom Gardiner
Funding: FFS
Education: BSc (Hons) Pharmacology, University College Dublin, 2010
Current Project: Strategies to prevent vascular closure in retinal disease
Key Piece of Equipment: ProOx model C21 hyperoxia chamber
My Perfect Lab Day is: Obtaining and analysing data that confirms my hypothesis, and, taking beautiful images on the confocal microscope-food for the soul!
Name: Lisa Goodman
Email: lgoodman03@qub.ac.uk
Position: First year PhD student
Supervisors: Dr. Heping Xu, Dr. Mei Chen and Prof. Alan Stitt
Funding: DEL
Education: Bsc (Hons) Biomedical Science, Queen’s University Belfast, 2012
Current Project: Can diabetes reprogram retinal microglia for excessive or cytotoxic response to local and systemic insults?
Key Piece of Equipment: Confocal microscope
My Perfect Lab Day is: Obtaining beautiful images using the confocal microscope
Name: Sammy Hanrahan
Email: shanrahan01@qub.ac.uk
Position: Second Year PhD student
Supervisors: Dr. Tim Curtis and Professor. Alex Zholos
Funding: DEL
Education: BSc (Hons), Physiology, University of Bristol, 2008. MPhil, Respiratory Medicine Research, Queen’s University of Belfast, 2010
Current Project: Endothelial expression and function of TRPM8
Key Piece of Equipment: Confocal microscope and patch-clamp rig
My Perfect Lab Day is: Coming into the tea-room to find the milk has been bought and the biscuit tin re-filled!
Name: Adam Harvey
Email: aharvey05@qub.ac.uk
Position: Third Year PhD student
Supervisors: Dr. David Grieve and Professor. Barbara J. McDermott
Funding: DEL
Education: BSc (Hons) Physiology, Queen’s University Belfast, 2009
Current Project: Mechanisms underlying the interaction between NADPH Oxidase and PPARα in left ventricular hypertrophy.
Key Piece of Equipment: Accurate micro pipettes and sharp scissors.
My Perfect Lab Day is: Highly productive with enough time for a cup of coffee and a chat!
Name: Judith Lechner
Email: jlechner01@qub.ac.uk
Position: Third Year PhD student
Supervisors: Mr. Colin Willoughby and Professor. Anne Hughes (Centre for Public Health)
Funding: Fight for Sight
Education: BSc (Hons) Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Krems, Austria, 2009
Current Project: Genetic Determinates of Keratoconus Identified with SNP Mapping
Key Piece of Equipment: Veriti Thermal Cycler
My Perfect Lab Day is: When everything goes according to plan ;-)
Name: Jennifer McNaughten
Email: jlindsay12@qub.ac.uk
Position: Second Year PhD student
Supervisors: Dr. Tim Curtis and Professor Graham J. McGeown
Funding: DEL
Education: BSc (Hons) Anatomy, Queen’s University Belfast, 2010
Current Project: Investigating TRP Channels in Retinal Endothelial Cells
Key Piece of Equipment: Microfluorimetry Rig
My Perfect Lab Day is: When cells respond consistantly!!
Name: Estelle Lowry
Email: elowry05@qub.ac.uk
Position: Second Year PhD student
Supervisors: Dr. Ruth Hogg and Dr. Jayne Woodside (Centre for Public Health)
Funding: DEL
Education: BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science (Physiology), University of Aberdeen, 2009
MSc Public Health and Health Sciences Research, University of Aberdeen, 2010
Current Project: Investigating the determinants of macular pigment and response to supplementation
Key Piece of Equipment: Macular Pigment Optical Densitometer
My Perfect Lab Day is: Getting lots of volunteers to take part in my study!!
Name: Rosie McDowell
Email: rmcdowell10@qub.ac.uk
Position: Second Year PhD student
Supervisors: Professor. Graham J. McGeown and Dr. Tim Curtis
Funding: Fight for Sight
Education: BSc (Hons) Biochemistry, University of Edinburgh
Current Project: Broadly, Oxidative stress in the diabetic retina.
Key Piece of Equipment: LightCycler 480
My Perfect Lab Day is: Planning experiments…the bit before they have a chance to go wrong. And cake in the tea-room!
Name: Dorota Muszynska
Email: dmuszynska01@qub.ac.uk
Position: Third Year PhD student
Supervisors: Mr. Colin Willoughby and Dr. David Simpson
Funding: DEL
Education: M.Sc., Paleoanthropology, A.Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland
Current Project: Dissection of the Pathological Basis of Keratoconus with Gene Expression Profiling
Key Piece of Equipment: Computer
My Perfect Lab Day is: Everyday!!
Name: Michelle O’Doherty
Email: modoherty04@qub.ac.uk
Position: Final Year PhD student
Supervisors: Professor. Alan W. Stitt and Dr. Heping Xu
Funding: DEL
Education: BSc (Hons) Biochemistry, Queen’s University Belfast, 2009
Current Project: Investigating endothelial progenitor cells
Key Piece of Equipment: Biosafety cabinet & incubator
My Perfect Lab Day is: When at the end of a busy day I actually have something to show for it!
Name: Caitriona O’Leary
Email: coleary03@qub.ac.uk
Position: First Year PhD student
Supervisors: Dr. Tim Curtis, Professor Graham J. McGeown, Professor Alan W. Stitt
Funding: Fight For Sight
Education: BSc. (Hons) Pharmacology, University College Dublin (2010)
MSc. Regenerative Medicine, National University of Ireland, Galway (2012)
Current Project: Investigating the link between Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 4 and Growth factor-mediated intracellular calcium signalling in ocular angiogenesis
Key Piece of Equipment: Microfluorimetry Rig
My Perfect Lab Day: When cells respond the way they’re expected to
Name: Olivia O’Leary
Email: ooleary01@qub.ac.uk
Position: First Year PhD student
Supervisors: Professor. Alan W. Stitt and Dr. Derek P. Brazil
Funding: Diabetes UK
Education: BSc (Hons) Neuroscience, University College Dublin, 2010
Current Project: Investigating the tissue protective potential of EPO mimetic peptides in Diabetic Retinopathy
Key Piece of Equipment: Bio Rad Mini Protean Western Blotting system
My Perfect Lab Day is: Leaving feeling like I know a little bit more than the day before.
Name: Sudha Priya Soundara Pandi
Email: ssoundarapandi01@qub.ac.uk
Position: Second Year PhD student
Supervisors: Dr. Heping Xu and Dr. David Simpson
Funding: Queen’s University Belfast
Education: MSc Biotechnology, Lady Doak College, Madurai Kamraj University, India, 2008
Current Project: MicroRNA in Retinal Ageing and Age- related Macular Degeneration
My Perfect Lab Day is: Working with the sequencing data
Name: Mitchel Tate
Email: mtate06@qub.ac.uk
Position: First Year PhD student
Supervisors: Dr. David Grieve and Professor. Barbara J. McDermott
Funding: British Heart Foundation (BHF)
Education: BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences, Newcastle University, 2010; MSc Biomedical Research, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, 2011
Current Project: Does glucagon-like peptide-1 modulate progression of cardiac remodelling in diabetes via specific actions on inflammation and the extracellular matrix?
Key Piece of Equipment: Vevo 770 High-Resolution Imaging System
My Perfect Lab Day is: When everything goes according to plan!
Name: Sarah Wilson
Email: swilson50@qub.ac.uk
Position: First Year PhD Student
Supervisors: Professor. Alan W. Stitt and Dr. Heping Xu
Funding: Fight for Sight
Education: MSc Stem Cells and Regeneration, University of Bristol, 2012
BSc (Hons) Anatomy, Queen’s University Belfast, 2010
Current Project: Characterising EPCs for use in Diabetic Retinopathy
Key Piece of Equipment: Tissue Culture Hood & Centrifuge
My Perfect Lab Day: Getting useful results from an experiment that has taken several days or even weeks to prepare
Name: Janet Yarham
Email: jyarham01@qub.ac.uk
Position: First Year PhD student
Supervisors: Dr. Anthony (Tony) Collins and Dr. David Simpson
Funding: DEL
Education: BMedSci (Hons) Biomedical Science, University of Birmingham, 2011
Current Project: Investigating the role of miRNAs in the downregulation of Kir2.1 in heart failure
Key Piece of Equipment: PCR Thermal Cycler
My Perfect Lab Day is: When an experiment works first time!
Name: Jiawu Zhao
Email: jzhao07@qub.ac.uk
Position: PhD student since 2010
Supervisors: Dr. Heping Xu and Professor. Alan W. Stitt
Funding: NERC
Education: BSc (Hons) Pharmacology & Immunology, University of Manchester, 2007
MRes Biomedical Sciences, University of Glasgow, 2009
Current Project: Investigating mechanisms of chronic inflammation-induced retinal angiogenesis
Key Piece of Equipment: Confocal microscope
My Perfect Lab Day is: Have all the work done before 5pm