Biography
I am a PhD candidate in the Biotherapeutic Drug Development Group at the School of Medicine and Bioscience with nine years of academic and industrial experience in protein expression, purification, and cell/assay development. My work has spanned oncology, autoimmunity, and infectious diseases. I hold an MRes, where my thesis investigated the immunomodulatory role of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor in TLR4 activation, and a first-class BSc (Hons) in Biotechnology and Biochemistry, where I was awarded the prizes for Highest Achieving Undergraduate and the Tallow Chandlers Award. I also received a Wellcome Trust Biomedical Vacation Scholarship (internship, 2015) to develop a yeast-based vaccine delivery platform. A cell biologist at heart, I am an active member of the Biochemical Society, Royal Society of Biology (MRSB), and British Society for Immunology.
Qualifications
- Biomedical Science, University of West London, London, United Kingdom, PhD (Ongoing)
- Bioscience, University of East London, London, United Kingdom, MRes (2017)
- Biotechnology and Biochemistry, University of East London, London, United Kingdom, BSc (Hons) (2016)
Supervisors
- Professor Hanieh Khalili
- Dr. David Guiliano (UoW)
Research Projects
Development and characterisation of novel dimeric ScFv for chronic inflammation
This project aims to develop a bispecific therapeutic that simultaneously targets two major drivers of chronic inflammation. By addressing converging pathways that regulate immune responses, tissue damage, and disease progression, the approach has potential applications across inflammatory and autoimmune conditions. The work will also foster academic–industry partnerships to support translation from discovery to clinical application.
Research Interests
- Biotherapeutic Drug Development
- Antibody Fragment synthesis
- Development of in-vitro models for assessment of drug response
- 3D Tissue culture models and their applications
- Understanding complex drug-receptor interactions
- Cell signalling
Collaborators
This is a multi-faculty collaboration between UWL and the University of Westminster with an industry partner, Oxford Expression Technologies.
The lab’s tissue culture facilities and expertise will be utilised to express the ScFvs and develop in-vitro cell models (2D and 3D) to assess the mechanism of action for the bi-specifics developed in the Biotherapeutic lab.