The Conway Group Alumni

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS

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DR MARIA ODYNIEC
Maria joined the Conway Group in 2019. Over her two years in the group she was part of of redOx_KCL research team. Her research involved the development of fluorescent imaging agents to be used for investigation into diseased states with a main interest in reactive oxygen species. Prior to taking up the position at the University of Oxford, Maria followed an MSci in Natural Sciences (University of Bath) followed by a PhD in Chemistry under the supervision of Professor Tony James (University of Bath). On leaving the group she took up a Research Fellow role at the University of Birmingham under the supervision of Professor Zoe Pikramenau on the development of luminescent nanoparticles for biofilm detection.
Dr Pascal Heitel

DR PASCAL HEITEL
In 2020, Pascal joined the University of Oxford to pursue his postdoctoral studies as a DFG fellow. During his time in the group he developed tools to study CREBBP. Pascal studied chemistry at the University of lm (Germany) and the University of Málaga (Spain). After obtaining his MSc, he moved to Frankfurt to take up his PhD studies under the supervision of Manfred Schubert-Zsilavecz and Daniel Merk at the Goethe University. His thesis focussed on the development of anti-inflammatory nuclear receptor ligands. On leaving the group he returned to the Goethe University Frankfurt to take up another postdoc position and start his independent scientific career.
Adam Thomas

DR ADAM THOMAS
Adam started at the University of Oxford in 2017 as part of the Oxford-GSK-Crick Chemical Biology CDT, and subsequently joined the group in 2018 during his rotation projects. Adam’s work within the group centred around novel approaches to chemical biology to probe and validate targets. Previously, Adam studied Chemistry at the University of Leicester graduating with an MChem in 2017. Here he undertook his MChem project with Prof. Paul M. Cullis, and Dr. Mark P. Lowe on Theranostic Rhenium(I) Complexes. Adam undertook post-doctoral work in the group from June - September 2022. He has since gone to the Department of Pharmacology in the labs of Tom Lanyon-Hogg.

Dr Ewen Calder
Dr Anthony Chan
Dr James Clayton
Dr Lingbing Kong

Dr Valquiria Aragão Leoneti
March-August 2010. Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo-funded post-doc. On leaving the group went on to be a post-doc with Professor Ivone Carvalho, University of São Paulo

Dr Tashfeen Aslam
2006-2008. BBSRC-funded PDRA at St Andrews. On leaving the group went on to be a post-doc with Prof. Mark Bradley, University of Edinburgh.

Dr Nicos Avlonitis
2006-2007. BBSRC-funded PDRA at St Andrews. On leaving the group went on to be a post-doc with Prof. Mark Bradley, University of Edinburgh.



DPHIL STUDENTS

Darius McArdle

DR DARIUS McARDLE
Darius was a DPhil student in the group from 2019–2023, working on the development of chemical probes for the bromodomains of parasites. Upon completion of his DPhil, he left Oxford for a postdoctoral scholarship position at University of California San Francisco, in the group of Prof Danica Fujimori.
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DR JESSICA REYNOLDS
Jessica was a member of the Conway group as a DPhil student from 2017-2020, and continued as a post doc until April 2021, working on chemical tools to probe the functions of the TRIM proteins. She left the group to be a medicinal chemist working for Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
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DR HOLLY BUNCE
Holly was a DPhil student in the Conway Group from 2017 - 2021, working on the development of peptide-mimetic ligands for the Kef system. Her research interests are the design and synthesis of small molecules for medicinal chemistry, particularly in the crucial field of antibiotics. On leaving the group she took up a role at Evotec.

Liam O’Connor
Michael Brand
Amelie Joffrin
Alex Saunders
Sarah Collins
Charles Evans
Chris Delaforce
Catherine Haslam
Coco Laurin
Larissa See

Davide Bello
2003-2007. EaStCHEM-funded PhD student at St Andrews. On leaving the group went on to be post-doc with Prof. Rodolfo Lavilla Grifols, Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Barcelona.

Daniel Cox
2008-2010. Jointly supervised with Antony Fairbanks. PDRA with Jason Chin, LMB, Cambridge.

Tom Elliott
2006-2010. EaStCHEM / CRUK-funded PhD student at St Andrews. On leaving the group went on to be post-doc with Dr Jason Chin, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Cambridge.

Neil Keddie
2005-2009. BBSRC-funded PhD student at St Andrews. On leaving the group went on to be post-doc with Prof. David O’Hagan, University of St Andrews.

Dr Gavin Miller
2005-2006. BBSRC-funded PDRA at St Andrews. On leaving the group went on to be a post-doc with Dr John Gardiner, University of Manchester.

Kirsty Muirhead
2007-2011. Alzheimer’s UK-funded PhD student jointly supervised with Frank Gunn-Moore at St Andrews. Publishing Editor with the RSC.

Ross Murray
2004-2008. BBSRC / sanofi-aventis-funded PhD student at St Andrews. On leaving the group went on to be post-doc with Dr Gordon Florence, University of St Andrews.

Joseph Nemeth
2004-2008. EPSRC / Prosidion-funded PhD student at St Andrews.

Aine Slowey
2008-2012. Department studentship. Healthcare Analyst at Datamonitor

Megan Stanton-Humphreys
2007-2011. Leverhulme Trust-funded DPhil student and Welcome Trust-funded PDRA. Medical writing.

Michael Van Ryssen
2004-2006. EPSRC-funded MPhil student at St Andrews. On leaving the group went on to study medicine at the University of Dundee


PART II STUDENTS

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GEORGE DELFAS
George was a 4th year Chemistry student at St Hilda’s College. In his Part II project
he was working on hypoxia activated prodrugs. In his spare time, George enjoys
getting involved with all the music that Oxford has to offer, regularly playing with
the Oxford University Philharmonia and singing in St Hilda’s College Choir.
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ROMI AGGARWAL
Romi was an MChem student at Jesus College, Oxford. He joined the group for his Part II research project, focussing on the synthesis of novel bifunctionals.
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DANIEL DAVIES
Daniel was an MChem student at Jesus College studying his Part II with the Conway group. His research involved synthesising novel Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs). It’s hoped such research will have potential application in oncology.
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JOSHUA LUKE
Joshua was at Jesus College and joined the Conway group in September 2021 for his Part II year. His Part II project involved the synthesis of proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs). Outside of chemistry, Joshua enjoys playing football for his college and spending time with friends.
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ALEKSY KWIATKOWSKI
Aleksy was at University College for his undergrad and is continuing at Oxford with Merton College as part of the Synthesis for Biology and Medicine CDT. His Part II project involved study of the structure activity relationships of molecules designed to bind to a bromodomain in the parasite Schistosoma mansoni. It is hoped this work will lead to a final molecule that will be used to find the function of this protein and validate it as a target for the treatment of Schistosomiasis.
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ALISON SQUIRE
Ali was an MChem student at St. Edmund Hall and completed her Part II research year in the Conway group. Her project involved synthesising small molecule libraries as part of the investigation of BDFs in Leishmania. On leaving the group she worked as a Synthetic Chemist and considered doing a PhD.
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SARAH PHILIPS

Sarah is a former Part II from the year 2020-2021, who studied hypoxia-activated prodrugs for hypoxic imaging whilst in the Conway group. In October 2021 she will joined the Hackenberger group at the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) in Berlin for a placement year.

Katherine Bridges
Jesse Moses
Jessie Tucker
Fern Woodhouse
Katie Clifton - (2009-2010)
Sam Grayer - (2010-2011)
Niall Igoe - (2011-2012)
Lukass Jursins - (2011-2012)
Alastair Macgregor - (2009-2010)
Liam O’Connor - (2011-2012)
Mike Roberts - (2010-2011)
Diane Swallow - (2009-2010)
Natalie Theodoulou - (2011-2012)
Paul Walker - (2011-2012)
Jenny Ward - (2010-2011)


RESEARCH ASSISTANTS

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MAX MALLERMAN
Max graduated with an MChem from The University of Oxford in 2021, after completing his Part II project in the group. Max’s research focused on the development of hypoxia-activated pro-drugs. Max rejoined the group as part of the redOxKCL team in late 2021, focusing on research into probes for the cellular redox environment. He has since gone on to work in the field of patent law

VISITORS

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ISABELLE GOODROW
Isabelle is entering her third year as an undergraduate student at Cornell University studying math and chemistry. She joined the Conway group and redOxKCL team as a visiting student from June to August 2022. Her research focused on the development of probes for the cellular redox environment.
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KATHERINE RODDEN
Katherine is a DPhil student on the Synthesis for Biology and Medicine Centre for doctoral training, carrying out a rotation in the group on the development of bifunctionals beyond PROTACs. She graduated from the University of York with an MChem in Biological and Medicinal Chemistry, during which she carried out a year in industry at Bayer CropScience (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) on the synthesis of novel herbicides.

ST ANDREWS PROJECT / SUMMER STUDENTS

Thanh Dang
Mus Moroglu
Claire Sear
Emma Borgstrom
James Carr
Alastair Durie
Andrew Kyle
Sarah MacNaughton
Lorna Murray
Craig Robertson