Dr Róisín Mongey (2017-2021) joined the lab as a Master’s student and was subsequently awarded a PhD to study the role of retinoic acid in lung repair and regeneration. After completing her PhD in early 2021, Róisín stayed on for a year as a post-doc. Róisín is currently a Clinical Trials manager at Medpace.
Dr. Laura Yates (2013-2019) joined the Leukocyte Biology section, National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI), Imperial College, as a Junior Research Fellow (JRF) in 2013. Laura investigated the molecular mechanisms that predispose Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients to lung cancer and how deregulation of polarity regulators may contribute to disease progression. Laura is currently a research manager at the Inflammation, Repair & Development section of NHLI.
Dr. Leigh Chambers (nee Wilson) (2016-2019) was a senior postdoctoral fellow whose research interests lie in the molecular regulation of developmental processes. Leigh investigated the role of retinoic acid in the dorsoventral patterning of the spinal cord and cerebellum and is interested in lung development, regeneration and repair. Leigh has a keen enthusiasm for public engagement of science and devised and delivered several outreach projects related to neurobiology and cardio-respiratory biology.
Dr Bethany Taylor (2016) came to the lab with a summer scholarship from the Wellcome Trust. She subsequently reported her project findings at 2019 Pathology Society Winter meeting held at the Royal Society of Medicine, and in 2020 published a first author paper on her work in BMJ Thorax. DOI: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2020-214752 .
Dr. Khondoker Akram (2016-18)- carried out a 2 yr post-doctoral fellowship to on real-time imaging of alveologenesis funded by the Leverhulme Trust. He is currently a post-doctoral fellow at Sheffield University.
Dr. Thanushiyan Poobalasingam (2012-16)- was a National Heart and Lung Institute Foundation PhD student. He investigated the role of Vangl2 in adult lung homeostasis and repair. Thanushiyan is now a post-doctoral fellow at King’s College London.
Dr. David Salman (2013-17)– A clinical PhD student on a Wellcome Doctoral Training Fellowship.
Dr Joana Alcada (2014-date) – A clinical fellow funded by a Doverdale fellowship has undertaken a PhD looking at mechanisms of induction in human lung regeneration.
Dr John-Poul Ng-Blichfeldt –John-Poul was a PhD student, funded by the NIHR Biomedical Research Unit, (2010-2014) focused on the role of retinoid acid (RA) signalling in adult human lung disease and repair. His work identified lung microvascular endothelium as a target of RA signalling and dysregulated RA metabolism as a potential contributor to emphysema (Ng-Blichfeldt J, et al Thorax 2017;72:510-521). John-Poul is currently a Career Development Fellow in Katiya Röper’s lab at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK and is investigating the cell biology of tissue morphogenesis.
Project Students
Luoman Qin: complete an MSc project on ‘Investigating airway regeneration after acid injury in precision–cut lung slices‘, 2023
Lucy Barlow: complete an MSc project, 2023
Chunyu Yan: complete an MRes project on ‘Investigating the role of retinoic acid–induced growth factors in alveolar epithelial repair’, 2023
Rebecca Chen: complete an MSc project on ‘Investigating injury- and ageing-related alterations in lung tissue-derived extracellular vesicles and their effects on lung tissue’, 2022
Paulson Tseng: complete an MSc project on ‘Deciphering responses of precision-cut lung slices-derived extracellular vesicles during lung repair’, 2022
Oscar Wong: complete an MSc project on ‘Investigating the effects of Wnt5a-containing nanoparticles of human lung repair’, 2022
Onyinyechi Orie: complete an MSc project on ‘Investigating lung architecture and development in Down syndrome mouse mutants’, 2021
Lauren Connolly: complete an MSc project on ‘Investigating lung repair: a live imaging approach’, 2021
Gloria Opara: complete an MSc project on ‘Microarray analysis of Retinoid acid induced changes in pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells’, 2020
Ambreen Muhammad : Anatomical Society Summer student, 2019
Jin Ju Lee : Using Junction Mapper to investigate the role of Vangl2 in cell-cell adhesion (Medicine Summer student, 2018) & Wellcome Trust Biomedical Vacation Scholarship, 2019.
David McTeague: Investigating the role of PCP signalling in alveolar formation and lung tissue. MRes Royal College of Vetenary Surgeons, 2018-19.
Peizhu Wang : Manipulating the Wnt/Planar cell polarity pathway to target lung repair. Research Project student- MSc in Genes, Drugs and Stem cells, 2018.
Christina Michalaki : Research Project student- MSc in Genes, Drugs and Stem cells, 2017.
Roisin Mongey : Research Project student- MSc in Genes, Drugs and Stem cells, 2017.
Wakana Yasuda: The role of DACT1 in alveolar epithelial cells. Intercalated BSc Medicine, 2017.