Harries' lab: Team RNA
ABOUT US
Our major research interest focuses on factors that influence gene expression and their impact on human disease. We are particularly interested in mRNA processing (mRNA splicing, differential polyadenylation) and how this may affect disease phenotype.
OUR TEAM
Professor Lorna Harries
Principle Investigator
I gained my PhD in Molecular Genetics from University College London in 1994, and set up the RNA-mediated mechanisms of Disease Group at the University of Exeter Medical School in 2006. My team have a special focus on how RNA biology can influence both normal and disease states, from large-scale –omics approaches down to detailed assessment of specific mechanisms in specific genes.
Dr Sam Gould
Post Doctoral Research Fellow
In 2015 I graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science, and obtained my PhD in dental research in 2020 from the University of Plymouth. My PhD spanned the fields of cell biology, microbiology, immunology, and tissue engineering, whereby she developed and characterised immunocompetent tissue-engineered models of the oral mucosa, to study host-response to oral pathogens. I work half-time for SENISCA as part of the wet-lab R&D team tasked with validating their novel senotherapeutics in several different model systems.
Dr Zhuofan Mou
Post Doctoral Research Fellow
I completed my BSc in Mathematics from University of Exeter in 2018 and achieved a MSc in Mathematical Modelling from University College London in 2019. My research interest lies in using mathematical modelling, data analysis and machine learning methods for analysing empirically-generated and publicly-available genetic expression data; evaluating and developing promising models that can improve the accuracy of detection and prediction of different diseases. My project aims to improve the accuracy of early prostate cancer detection, classification and prognosis by applying mathematical and machine learning techniques to transcriptomic expression data on a genome-wide scale.
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Dr Laura Sinclair (née Bramwell)
Post Doctoral Research Associate
My research generally focuses on the molecular causes of ageing and age-related diseases. Having begun my career in research focusing on obesity and adipose tissue dysfunction, I moved to Team RNA to complete my PhD. My PhD project used drug repurposing to find new compounds that affect cellular senescence. My current project examines the sex differences of ageing and whether plant-derived hormone mimetics can affect the mechanisms by which our cells “age”.
Dr Josan Gandawijaya
Post Doctoral Research Associate
I graduated from the B.Sc. (Hons.) Medical Sciences programme at the University of Exeter in 2019 and recently completed my Ph.D. in Medical Studies (with a focus on Molecular Neuroscience) at the Oguro-Ando Laboratory. I now apply my skills in the Harries Laboratory as a postdoctoral research associate, studying the factors underlying stress-induced cell identity changes in diabetes mellitus and how we can leverage novel antisense oligonucleotide therapies to reverse them.
Jodie Evans
PhD Student
I graduated with my MChem in Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Loughborough in 2020. I joined the team in October 2022 as a GRA, investigating a new therapeutic approach to diabetic kidney disease. Following this year long project, I began my PhD. My research focuses on new senotherapeutic approaches to neurodegenerative diseases, where I am excitingly exploring new technologies to reach my goals.
Siri Deva Kumar
PhD Student
I am a Biomedicine graduate from University of East Anglia, Norwich, with a background in immunology and regenerative medicine. I had the opportunity to complete several internships across the world, one resulting in a publication and another in a poster presentation at the SCRIPPS conference, Florida. I am now a first year PhD student, exploring the pro-inflammatory biased phenotypic shift observed in microglia during ageing. I will be observing changes in cellular secretome and profile, to identify key pathways and molecules that could have potential therapeutic benefits.
Dr Sarah Appleby
Research Technician
Originally from New Zealand, I completed a BSc (Tech) and MSc (Research) in Biology at the University of Waikato. In 2021, I finished my PhD in Biomedical Science undertaken with AgResearch and the University of Auckland. My PhD focused on using sheep for xenotransplantation; gene editing sheep cells to make them more compatible with the human immune system or to use the ‘organ niche’ concept to grow human kidneys in an anephric sheep. I moved to Exeter in 2021 to work with livestock embryonic stem cells at the Living Systems Institute and have now joined Team RNA as a Research Technician to broaden my skillset in other biomedical applications.
Aysha Al Bulushi
PhD Student
I completed my BSc in Biotechnology in 2018 from SQU, Sultanate of Oman. Then, I achieved my MSc in Cancer biology and therapeutics from Cardiff university in 2020, during that time I had developed the interest in exploring cancer therapeutics and exploring different approaches in investigation cancer diagnostic and prognostic markers. Therefore, I recently joined the Team RNA to start my PhD journey with a project aiming to evaluate a new therapeutic target for prostate cancer.
PAST TEAM MEMBERS
Jon Locke PhD
Alice Holly PhD
Karen Johnstone PhD
Faer Morrison PhD
Eva Latorre PhD
Cyrielle Tonneau PhD
Jed Lye PhD
Shahnaz Haque PhD
Ben Lee PhD
Nicky Jeffery PhD
Emad Manni PhD
Ryan Frankum PhD
Merlin Davies-Abraham PhD
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