Centre members
The Centre brings together unique, diverse and highly complementary expertise from across the glycoscience field. An overview of the Centre's structure and expertise are presented below, including links to individual member profiles.
Please email any of the Centre's members if you are interested in joining us.
Director
Professor Gavin J. Miller
Professor of Biological Chemistry
- Lennard-Jones: 1.08
- +44 (0)1782 734442
- g.j.miller@keele.ac.uk
Academic members
Trish Procter
Lecturer in Biomedical Science
- Huxley Building : 304
- +44 (0)1782 733771
- p.procter@keele.ac.uk
Dr Mark Skidmore
Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry
- Huxley Building : 174
- +44 (0)1782 733945
- m.a.skidmore@keele.ac.uk
Dr Sebastian Cosgrove
Lecturer in Organic Chemistry
- Lennard-Jones: 1.45
- +44 (0)1782 734215
- s.cosgrove@keele.ac.uk
Dr Scott Guimond
Lecturer in Bioscience
- School of Medicine, David Weatherall building
- +44 (0) 1782 734663
- s.e.guimond@keele.ac.uk
Dr Marcelo Lima
Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences
- Huxley Building : 203
- +44 (0)1782 734111
- m.andrade.de.lima@keele.ac.uk
Dr Jóhannes Reynisson
Lecturer in Drug Discovery
- Hornbeam 0.56
- +44 (0)1782 733985
- j.reynisson@keele.ac.uk
Professor Jeremy Turnbull
Professor of Glycosciences
Expert in Glycosciences
- Huxley Building : 303B
- +44 (0)1782 731493
- j.e.turnbull@keele.ac.uk
Experimental officers
Dr Aisling Ní Cheallaigh
Senior Experimental Officer
- Lennard-Jones: 1.45
- +44 (0)1782 734215
- a.ni.cheallaigh@keele.ac.uk
Post Doctoral Researchers
Dr Caecilie Benckendorff
Post-Doctoral Researcher
- LJ1.27
- +44 (0)1782 734225
- c.benckendorff@keele.ac.uk
Dr Sian Berry
Post-Doctoral Researcher
- LJ1.27
- +44 (0)1782 734225
- s.s.berry@keele.ac.uk
Dr Amy Byrne
Post-Doctoral Researcher
- LJ1.27
- +44 (0)1782 734225
- a.byrne1@keele.ac.uk
Dr Jonathan Dolan
Post Doctoral Researcher
- LJ1.27
- +44 (0) 1782 734225
- j.dolan@keele.ac.uk
Dr Tapasi Manna
Post Doctoral Researcher
- LJ1.27
- +44 (0) 1782 734225
- t.manna@keele.ac.uk
Doctoral Researchers
Liam Beardmore
Liam is from Wrexham, Wales. He graduated from Bangor University in 2021 with a BSc in Chemistry with Industrial Experience. His year in industry was spent at Koura Global working in organic synthesis. In October 2022 he moved to Durham University to study for a 12-month MRes in the Brittain and Cobb groups. The focus of this study was using pentafluoropyridine to readily access acyl fluorides facilitating a one pot synthesis of esters and thioesters. Liam joined the group in October 2022 and is working on functionalization of cellulosic materials.
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Jack Porter
Jack is from Burnley, Lancashire and studied at Sheffield Hallam University where he graduated in 2019 with a MChem degree. His final year research project focused on the design and synthesis of third generation photosensitisers for use in photodynamic therapy, with the aim of overcoming current drawbacks such as limited bioavailability.
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Anthony Devlin
Anthony is from Birmingham, England and completed his BSc in biochemistry and human biology at Keele University in 2016. Anthony started his PhD at Keele with Dr Mark Skidmore in 2016, where he has worked on expanding FTIR as a tool for glycosaminoglycan research through the use of chemometric analyses.
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Alice Wahart
Alice is from Poitiers (France) and studied at the University of Orléans where she graduated in 2019 with a Masters degree in Molecular Chemistry.
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Hannah Wooton
Hannah is from Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire where she obtained a first class MChem degree from Keele University in 2019.
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Conor O’Shea
Conor is from Cavan, Ireland. He studied at University College Dublin where he graduated in 2020 with a B.A. of science majoring in Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology.
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Sean Evans
Sean is from Liverpool and studied Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry at the University of St Andrews, graduating in 2018. He returned to St Andrews to complete an MSc (Res) advancing a synthesis towards the communes in natural products.
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Olivia McIntosh
Olivia is researching the regulation of cell fate by heparan sulphate with a particular interest in growth factors and their receptors. The main focus of the study is to test the hypothesis that heparan sulphate structures can regulate the intracellular signalling and cellular processes initiated by members of the FGF family of growth factors.
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Lucy Naughton
Lucy graduated from Keele University with a First Class Honours in Biomedical Science during the midst of the pandemic in 2021.
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Emily Pinter
Emily Pinter is a third-year PhD student at Keele University. Her main area of research is investigating whether glycosaminoglycans have the potential to be Alzheimer’s therapeutics, specifically BACE1 inhibitors.
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Connor Ellison
Connor grew up in New Zealand before graduating from Aberystwyth University with a BSc in Microbiology in 2018 and an MSc from Keele University in Biomedical Blood Science in 2019.
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Taran Kandola
Taran graduated from Keele University in 2019 after studying for a BSc in Biochemistry. She is currently completing her PhD and researching the structure-function relationships that exist between heparin lyase enzymes from different species and their glycosaminoglycan substrates.
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Jacob Roberts
Jacob is from Pontefract, West Yorkshire and graduated with a first class MChem degree from the University of York in 2022. His final year industrial placement was undertaken at Bayer Crop Science in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Jacob joined the group in September 2022 as a PhD student working on nucleoside analogue synthesis.
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Lauren Holder
Lauren is from Newcastle upon Tyne and obtained a first class MChem degree from Keele University in 2022. During her final year research project, she studied nitroreductase biocatalysis for next generation therapeutic compounds. Lauren joined the group in September 2022 where her research will focus on sugar nucleotide transporters to combat fungal infections in collaboration with Syngenta.
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Tom Roberts
Tom is from Carmarthenshire, West Wales. He graduated from Keele University in 2013 completing his final year project in the stereoselective synthesis of tetrahyrdrofurans. Tom then spent time outside of academia before studying for a masters in medicinal chemistry with the open university, graduating with a Merit in 2020. Tom’s project focused on the potential of triple reuptake inhibitors as potential antidepressants. Tom joined the group in September 2022 where his research will focus on Engineering carbohydrate-active enzymes to enable continuous-flow biocatalysis.
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Jesseca Chung
Jesseca is from San Francisco, California. In 2022 she graduated with a first class Neuroscience degree having completed her final year project in the structure-function relationship that underpins the interactions of Heparin and Low-Molecular-Weight Heparins with the Apolipoprotein E gene associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Jesseca joined the group in September 2022 where she will be investigating carbohydrate-protein interactions in Parkinson’s disease.
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Jamie Nabbs
Jamie is from Wolverhampton, West Midlands. In July 2022 she graduated with a first-class degree in Biomedical Science from Keele University. Her final year project involved the research of Unfractionated Heparin and the impacts of different metal cations on its anticoagulant activity. Jamie joined the group in September 2022 and, for her PhD, will be investigating further into different glycosaminoglycan’s and their potential therapeutic uses.
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Ethan Saunders
Ethan is from Bristol, South-West. In July 2022 he graduated with a first class MSCI degree from Keele University. During his final year project, Ethan focused on research associated with the production of recombinant SARS CoV-2 Omicron variant S1 spike protein. Before later recording changes in its molecular structure when placed into contact with Heparin and other glycosaminoglycan derivatives. Now completing his PhD, he will primarily focus on glycosaminoglycan extraction, purification, and potential therapeutic benefit in relation to COVID-19.
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