Hasnain Ahmed
PhD student
Hasnain joined the Stewart lab in October 2021 to work on a Tenovus-funded project focussed on identifying prognostic biomarkers that can aid in predicting patient response to oesophageal adenocarcinoma therapy.
Amy Dorward
PhD student
Amy joined the Pitt lab in September 2017 to take up a PhD studentship supported by the BHF investigating the role of zinc in regulating ion channel functioning and regulation of calcium dynamics in heart failure.
Dr Remi Fritzen
Research Fellow
Remi joined the Stewart lab in March 2022 to undertake a BBSRC-funded project aimed at examining the interplay between plasma fatty acids and both cellular uptake and insulin dynamics.
Stephen Hierons
PhD Student
Following completion of his Hons degree, Steve joined the Stewart lab in September 2019 to undertake a masters project examining the metal-binding properties of alpha-fetoprotein. In October 2020 started his BHF-funded doctoral training examining the interplay between plasma Zn dynamics and fibrin clotting in obesity.
Quenton Hurst
Research Fellow
Quenton joined the Pitt lab in February 2021 to undertake a UKRI-BBSRC funded project entitled “High-resolution structure, function and anti-viral inhibition of the SARS-CoV-2 E protein ion channel”. Working with partners from University of Dundee (Prof Ulrich Zachariae) and Trinity College Dublin (Prof Martin Caffrey), the team will use structure-based drug design to accelerate the discovery of drugs to target SARS-CoV2 by enabling focused, rational approaches to design and repurposing. The project aims to i) solve high-resolution crystal-structures of CoV2E (ii) apply computational electrophysiology and in silico screens including cheminformatics/machine learning approaches to identify CoV2E inhibitors from libraries of commercially available and repurposing drugs, and (iii) perform lead validation and further development of inhibitors by electrophysiology and crystallography.
Jordan Marsh
(Co-supervised with Dr Samantha Pitt)
PhD Student
Jordan joined the Stewart lab in January 2020 to take up a PhD studentship supported by the BHF. He is currently investigating how zinc homestasis is controlled in platelets and how it contributes to coagulatory pathways.
Dongmei Wu
PhD Student
Dongmei joined the Stewart lab in August 2018 to take up a PhD studentship supported by the China Scholarship Council. Her project is focussed on the links between metal dishomeostasis and autoimmune disease.
Previous Group Members:
Stewart Group: Dr Mohammed Arastoo (now TauRx Pharmaceticals Aberdeen, UK), Dr Swati Arya (now working for Research Integrity, University of St Andrews), Dr Omar Kassaar (now University of Bristol, UK), Dr Kondwani Katundu (now University of Malawi), Dr Siavash Khazaipoul (now Charles River Ireland Ltd), Dr Petra Popovics (now PI at Eastern Virginia Medical School, USA), Spencer Regan-Smith (now studying for a PhD at Cambridge), Dr Amelie Sobczak (now School of Biology, University of St Andrews), Dr Dagmara Wiatrek (now Central European Institute of Technology, Czech Rep.), Dr Ruitao Yu (returned to Northwest Plateau Institute of Biology, Xining, China)
Pitt Group: Dr Ben Reilly-O’Donnell (now Imperial College London, UK), Dr Gavin Robertson (now clinical trials manager, Medpace, UK), Dr Amy Dorward (Now Research Fellow, School of Medicine, St Andrews), Quenton Hurst (now studying for a PhD, School of Medicine, St Andrews), Chloe O’Rourke (now studying for a PhD, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, St Andrews)