People

Tara graduated in 2022 with a degree in Biomedical Sciences from New College, University of Oxford, where she was an academic scholar. She specialised in cancer and immunology, culminating in a lab project in the Department of Pharmacology supervised by Dr Lanyon-Hogg, in which she developed methods to study the pharmacological disruption of reactive cysteines in live cells. Following graduation, Tara worked for 6 months as a professional medical writer, producing congress materials on behalf of pharmaceutical companies such as UCB, Ipsen and Novartis, before deciding to go back to research and joining the EDV Lab.

Aside from science, Tara is an experienced choral singer and acted as Vice President for Operations and Finance for the New College JCR Committee.

Tara’s project focuses on the development of chemical biology tools to modulate protein phosphatases.

Boman completed her MRes at King’s College London, where she investigated new methods for studying peptide–protein interactions under the supervision of Dr. Manuel Müller. Her work involved protein purification and analysis. Following her master’s degree, Boman spent a year working in industry as a project manager, specializing in peptide purification and antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) development.

Boman will work on studying and developing covalent ligands for a protein phosphatase for applications in targeted protein dephosphorylation.

Amy is working towards an Intercalated Master’s in Biochemistry at Queen Mary University of London. She intends to pursue a role in the pharmaceutical industry, commencing with a graduate scheme to give insight on which particular sector she hopes to specialise in. During her Bachelor’s research project, Amy worked on split-intein mediated polymerisation in vivo under the supervision of Dr Ewan Main, refining techniques in molecular biology. Beyond the lab, Amy recently volunteered at a turtle conservation, instilling a strong interest in field-based conservation work.

Amy’s project focuses on developing novel peptides for PHOSTAC design.

My name is Grace. After completing a three-year Biochemistry degree at Queen Mary, continuing my studies here with an MSci was a natural progression. My undergraduate dissertation focused on breast cancer and I have a strong interest in pharmaceutical chemistry, hence the opportunity to join Dr. Elena De Vita’s research team seemed like an excellent fit.  I’m genuinely excited about the work we’re doing and looking forward to the discoveries ahead.

Grace is studying phosphosignalling pathways in cancer cellular models.

Roan is a 3^rd year BSc Biochemistry student at Queen Mary University of London. Roan is interested in the field of drug development, specifically the modification of lead compounds to optimize drug-target interactions, in which he is hoping to gain hands-on experience to prepare for further studies. Other than biochemistry, Roan is an avid music lover, be it singing or playing musical instruments.

Roan’s project focuses on the organic synthesis of bifunctional compounds designed to study the use of novel modalities in cancer research.

Jason is a 3rd-year BSc Biochemistry student at Queen Mary University of London. He is interested in the development and optimisation of drug compounds, in which he is hoping to gain hands-on experience to prepare for a position in industry or research. Outside of academia, Jason enjoys reading and being outdoors, whether it be hiking or rock climbing. 

Jason’s project focuses on the optimization of biochemical assays to study phosphatase modulators.