Current lab members:

 

Clarissa Melo Czekster – Group Leader

I am from Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, where I went to college to obtain a BSc in Molecular Biology (2001-2004), a teaching degree in Biological Sciences (2003-2005), and an MSc in Biochemistry (2006-2008) at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). I moved to New York city for a PhD in enzymology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine with John S. Blanchard (2008-2012). After my PhD I went to Yale University to join Alanna Schepartz’s laboratory as a postdoc, working with beta-amino acids and the ribosome (2012-2014). I moved to the UK as a postdoc in Jim Naismith’s group at the University of St Andrews (2015-2017), where I worked with toxic cyclic peptides from mushroom and cyanobacteria.

Since 2017 I have been an independent research fellow in St Andrews, and in 2018 I was awarded a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust to establish my lab in St Andrews.

Clarissa Czekster on Google Scholar

 

 

Christopher J. Harding – Postdoctoral fellow

I am  from Preston, where I grew up before moving to Birmingham to obtain an MSci in Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham (2010-2014). I stayed on at the University of Birmingham for my PhD (2014-2018), where I worked in the laboratory of Dr Andrew Lovering. My PhD, titled “Structural and Functional Investigations of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus Lifecycle Proteins” involved characterising a number of unrelated protein targets. I have now moved to the University of St. Andrews to begin my first Postdoc position in the laboratory of Dr Clarissa M Czekster

 

 

 

Peijun (Gary) Tang – Research Associate – Biocatalysis

I am from Shanghai China, where I attended a cooperation program between Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and London Metropolitan University, obtaining a BSc in Pharmacy and Herbal Medicinal Science (2011-2015). Then I completed my MSc in Pharmaceutical Science & Medicinal Chemistry at Loughborough University (2015 – 2016). Then, I moved to Edinburgh, where I started my PhD with Prof. Campopiano’s group (2016 – 2020) funded by Edinburgh Global Research Scholarship focusing on the ‘Exploring the structure and function of key enzymes involved in microbial sphingolipid biosynthesis’. Based on the interest on enzymology, I started my first job in the Dr. Clarissa M Czekster lab in the University of St. Andrews from 2021.

 

 

 

 

Erin Laing – Researcher

 

I am from the Scottish Borders and came to the University of St Andrews where I completed my Bsc in Biochemistry. I stayed on at the University of St Andrews to undertake a MSc by Research in the da Silva lab. I have since taking up a post as a research assistant with the Czekster lab at University of St Andrews where, in partnership with Locate Bio, I am researching the slow release of antibiofilm peptides in order to halt bone infections.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charlene E. Ogilvie – PhD student

I am from Dundee, where I attended college to obtain a Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Applied Science and a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Biomedical Science. I have since completed an integrated masters in biochemistry – MBiochem (Hons) – at the University of St Andrews (2014-2019) and have chosen to stay here to complete my postgraduate studies in the laboratory of Dr Clarissa M. Czekster. My PhD project will aim to identify whether cyclic peptides influence interspecies interactions in the mouth microbiota.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Martha Simpson – PhD student

I am originally from Northampton in the East Midlands but moved to York in 2015 to begin my undergraduate studies in Biochemistry. As part of my degree, I undertook a year in industry at Allergan Biologics in Liverpool, where I used LC-MS to characterise antibody-based therapeutics. I (virtually) graduated from the University of York in 2020 with an MBiochem integrated masters. I have since moved to St Andrews to carry out a PhD project under the supervision of Dr Clarissa M. Czekster. My project will involve characterising bacterial and mammalian proteins which are involved in regulating protein degradation as part of the N-end rule.

 

 

 

 

Ngọc Anh Thư Trịnh – PhD student

I am from Viet Nam, where I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry at Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (International University) in 2018. Following that, I obtained my Master of Science degree at Newcastle University in 2020 with a graduate thesis on the effect of one-time Ciclosporin A application on adaptive immunity in patients with acute myocardial infarction. In 2021, I started my PhD at the University of St Andrews under the supervision of Dr Clarissa M. Czekster. The objective of my project is to determine the molecular requirements for the activation of various anticancer compounds developed by ProTides technology. Out of research, I also enjoy photography, travelling, and reading.

 

 

 

Ben Bruce – MSc(Res) student

 

 

 

Qingtian Gong – PhD student

I am from Beijing, China. I did my bachelor in Sichuan University, followed by a one-year practice in a biocatalysis lab with the focus of organic synthesis and aggregation induced emission. After the pandemic outbreak, I moved to Uppsala for my master’s program in chemical biology and did my master’s thesis in Ridgeview Instruments AB in Uppsala to develop a magnetic bead-based assay to evaluate protein-protein interaction and kinetics. Then, I worked in the company for eight months to continue the project and carry out a cell-based assay development. In 2023, I moved to St. Andrews and started my PhD project to explore the mechanism of biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa under the supervision of Dr. Clarissa M. Czekster.

 

 

Past lab members: 

Hamizan Amran (summer student) – https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamizan-amran-5bb8b9154/

Ethan Andrews (final year student) – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethandrews/

Pierce Bozeat (final year student) – https://www.linkedin.com/in/pierce-bozeat-a88a97196/?originalSubdomain=uk

 

 

Lyssa Gold (MSc(Res)) – Trainee Medical Writer at Mudskipper

 

 

 

Alison Dickson – currently Bioanalytical Research Manager at NuCana plc

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emmajay Sutherland – PhD student – now Postdoctoral fellow (Washington Research Foundation) with Nick Riley at the University of Washington

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rebecca Cornwell – Public Engagement Officer – now PhD candidate at the University of Highlands and Islands