Groups

We aim to understand why neurons die in neurodegenerative diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration. By applying CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to patient-derived stem cells, we generate clinically relevant human models of neurodegeneration. Using a combination of genomics, bioinformatics, and high-throughput functional screens, we interrogate these models to elucidate the regulatory networks that drive neuronal death. Our ultimate goal is to identify key disease drivers that can be used to develop therapies to halt or even reverse the relentless neuronal loss. 

We employ electron cryo microscopy and tomography to investigate how proteins assemble into molecular machines.

The overarching theme of our research is the development of novel high-throughput technologies for molecular and cellular screens, particularly antimicrobial discovery and multicellular spheroid assays. We are combining microfluidic tools with optical read-outs and state-of-the-art data analysis methods including machine learning to interrogate molecular function or decipher cell population heterogeneities.

We combine different methods in cryo electron microscopy (cryoEM) with biochemical and biophysical techniques to investigate the structure and function of multi-component molecular machines in cells. 

My research is focussed on the development and use of mathematical and computational methods to help us understand the dynamics of complex biological systems, with a focus on problems in healthcare.

We study pluripotent stem cells, cell fate specification and morphogenesis in early embryogenesis using embryo models.

We are interested in the mechanical aspects of tissue growth and morphogenesis. The group aims to understand how mechanical stresses arise and shape growing tissues during embryonic development with a particularly focus on the mechanical role of the extracellular matrix.

My research uses enzyme cascades to generate new chemicals and biological structures for human and veterinary healthcare.

Our research is focused on the development and application of new genetic screening methods to enable discovery of new therapies for human diseases.

We reconstruct and study whole-body neural circuits in marine invertebrate larvae to understand the control of movements and the evolution of nervous systems.

Using computational modelling, we study biological effects that are quantum mechanical in nature. Specifically, we focus on biological processes, such as magnetoreception, that acquire sensitivity to weak magnetic fields as a result of the dynamics of electron and nuclear spins.

We are interested in how the physical world shapes the dynamics in biological systems. 

Our group combines omics approaches and ecophysiology to study viral infection and its impact across all scales of biological organisation, from genome structure to cellular physiology, and from single cells to ecosystems and global processes.

Our research focuses on understanding the membrane transport mechanisms underpinning phenotypic diversification without genetic variations within cellular populations. Our work focuses on the study on antimicrobial resistance in individual bacteria which constitutes one of the greatest challenges for modern society. We use a variety of cutting-edge approaches including microfluidics and next generation sequencing.

We link protein function with choreographed dynamic changes in structure to answer fundamental questions in biology, to engineer new biotechnology tools and to discover new medicines – achieved by developing cutting-edge experimental and computational approaches.

The Richards Group uses a combination of mathematical modelling, computer simulation, machine learning, image analysis and wet-lab experiments to study a variety of areas of biology and biomedicine

We study how stress exposure during development leads to long-lasting changes in the brain and leads to disease susceptibility.

Cell-cell communication lie at the heart of our research because intracellular exchange of information is fundamental to embryogenesis and tissue homeostasis, and mis-regulated communication causes many diseases.

Our research goal is to elucidate the molecular genetic foundation of pluripotency in the mammalian embryo and derivative stem cell states and to understand how lineage competence is achieved. We currently have openings for a computational biologist and for wet lab postdocs.

All multicellular organisms have pluripotent cells that can differentiate into multiple cell types. In animals, these are present in embryos but sometimes as well in the adult stages. Often this happens in animals that can regenerate and even use this capacity for asexual reproduction. Our group is interested in stem cells, pluripotency, differentiation, and their evolution across the animal tree of life.

We address challenges in Health and Life Sciences by means of mathematical modelling and analysis.

I am pursuing a multi-disciplinary research initiative in Molecular, Nano- and Quantum Sensors and Systems that is unique in the UK (and the world) and that brings together the research streams of nanophotonics, nanoplasmonics, quantum optics, molecular mechanics (molecular machines, synthetic bio) and in the future, also molecular electronics and neuroscience. This new pan-disciplinary area, I believe, will be a very large and upcoming research playground at the cross-roads of cutting edge experimental and theoretical sciences; there will be applications in health, nanotechnology, metrology, environment, security, and astronomy; it touches on core subjects in physics, quantum optics, optics, biophysics, engineering, molecular mechanics and biochemistry. www.vollmerlab.com/

We fuse molecular biology, high resolution live-cell imaging, structural biology, proteomics and bioinformatics with immersive, intuitive observational techniques to understand the morphogenesis of the mitotic spindle, and to create new tools in the medically-relevant model organism, Galleria mellonella.

We study the behaviour and physiology of motile microorganisms, particularly the motility, dynamics and control of propulsion-generating appendages called cilia and flagella. 

My research uses a combination of mathematical modelling and electrophysiology experiments to understand how collective rhythms, such as synchronised oscillations, are generated in biological tissues.

We study transcription by RNA polymerase II in human cells and how it is regulated to control gene expression. 

We use a broad range of tools to better understand how microsporidia have adapted to intracellular life in a diversity of animal hosts.