Prof. James Wakefield
Group Leader
Associate Professor of Integrative Cellular Biology
Tel. +44 (0) 1392 724670
J.G.Wakefield@exeter.ac.uk
My research interest has always been that of mitosis and cell division, stimulated by the fundamental beauty of the process as viewed using a fluorescence microscope, and its key role in diseases such as cancer. When I was an "A" level student I had an inspirational Biology teacher, Alan Wright, who told me that one day, when I grew up, I should go and find out how microtubules organised themselves during mitosis. I'm still working on an explanation - but then I'm not yet really grown up.
Group Leader
Associate Professor of Integrative Cellular Biology
Tel. +44 (0) 1392 724670
J.G.Wakefield@exeter.ac.uk
My research interest has always been that of mitosis and cell division, stimulated by the fundamental beauty of the process as viewed using a fluorescence microscope, and its key role in diseases such as cancer. When I was an "A" level student I had an inspirational Biology teacher, Alan Wright, who told me that one day, when I grew up, I should go and find out how microtubules organised themselves during mitosis. I'm still working on an explanation - but then I'm not yet really grown up.
Dr Lori Borgal
Royal Society Newton Fellow
L.E.Borgal@exeter.ac.uk
I completed my PhD in Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Cologne in Germany, and my MSc in Anatomy & Neurobiology at Dalhousie University in Canada. I currently hold a Royal Society Newton Fellowship and am studying the role of the microcephaly- and cancer-associated protein asp/ASPM in forming the mitotic spindle in different cell types.
Royal Society Newton Fellow
L.E.Borgal@exeter.ac.uk
I completed my PhD in Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Cologne in Germany, and my MSc in Anatomy & Neurobiology at Dalhousie University in Canada. I currently hold a Royal Society Newton Fellowship and am studying the role of the microcephaly- and cancer-associated protein asp/ASPM in forming the mitotic spindle in different cell types.
James Marks
BBSRC PhD Student
jpm215@exeter.ac.uk
My main area of interest is in the dynamics of chromatin-driven spindle formation, which is often unregulated in cancer cells with abnormal centrosome numbers. Since starting my PhD in September 2015 (funded by the BBSRC) I have been investigating the roles of a variety of mitotic proteins in this pathway using Drosophila embryos in combination with fluorescence microscopy, quantitative image analysis (with our collaborator Jeremy Metz) and a variety of biochemical techniques. Outside the lab I am a keen classical guitar player, and dabble in jazz when given the chance, and enjoy skiing, brewing and kayaking.
BBSRC PhD Student
jpm215@exeter.ac.uk
My main area of interest is in the dynamics of chromatin-driven spindle formation, which is often unregulated in cancer cells with abnormal centrosome numbers. Since starting my PhD in September 2015 (funded by the BBSRC) I have been investigating the roles of a variety of mitotic proteins in this pathway using Drosophila embryos in combination with fluorescence microscopy, quantitative image analysis (with our collaborator Jeremy Metz) and a variety of biochemical techniques. Outside the lab I am a keen classical guitar player, and dabble in jazz when given the chance, and enjoy skiing, brewing and kayaking.
Ammarah Tariq
Palmer Legacy PhD Student
at543@exeter.ac.uk
The precise regulation of microtubule dynamics and interactions differs over cell development, the cell cycle, and intracellular space, and is essential to the cellular processes in which microtubules function. However, the molecular mechanisms by which MAPs regulate the dynamic properties of microtubules are still poorly understood. In collaboration with the lab of Christian Soeller, a biophysicist, am investigating microtubule dynamics by combining biochemical in vitro reconstitution with purified protein components, single-molecule total-internal-fluorescence (TIRF) imaging, and microfluidics techniques. Outside of the lab I enjoy creating art through various mediums, cooking, playing table-tennis and, whenever possible, travelling.
Palmer Legacy PhD Student
at543@exeter.ac.uk
The precise regulation of microtubule dynamics and interactions differs over cell development, the cell cycle, and intracellular space, and is essential to the cellular processes in which microtubules function. However, the molecular mechanisms by which MAPs regulate the dynamic properties of microtubules are still poorly understood. In collaboration with the lab of Christian Soeller, a biophysicist, am investigating microtubule dynamics by combining biochemical in vitro reconstitution with purified protein components, single-molecule total-internal-fluorescence (TIRF) imaging, and microfluidics techniques. Outside of the lab I enjoy creating art through various mediums, cooking, playing table-tennis and, whenever possible, travelling.
Alison Jackson
MRes Student
acj206@exeter.ac.uk
As an undergraduate and now as an MRes student in the Wakefield lab, my research has primarily involved identifying the mitotic localisation and protein interactions of several proteins in Drosophila. This is done through live fluorescence microscopy and immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry of GFP-tagged proteins of interest. The protein interaction data can then be used to build a protein-protein interaction network inDrosophila.
MRes Student
acj206@exeter.ac.uk
As an undergraduate and now as an MRes student in the Wakefield lab, my research has primarily involved identifying the mitotic localisation and protein interactions of several proteins in Drosophila. This is done through live fluorescence microscopy and immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry of GFP-tagged proteins of interest. The protein interaction data can then be used to build a protein-protein interaction network inDrosophila.