James Ellams

James Ellams is a PhD student in the Nikolaou lab research protein-protein interactions in healthy and degenerating neurons using zebrafish as model organisms. The ultimate goal is to characterise these protein interactions, understanding where and when these interactions take place in neurons and how this could be a factor in neurodegeneration. 

Before starting his PhD, James contributed to resarch in the Phillips group, LSI University of Exeter. He looked at the molecular kinetics of a base editing enzyme, Cas9, with the aim to understand how this dynamic enzyme undergoes DNA editing. Additionally, he helped research the effect of metal cations on the HDX kinetics with the aim to account for buffer salts when using HDX to determine protein dyanamics.