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Biosciences

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About me:

I am a post-doctoral researcher in Ivana Gudelj’s research group where we use a combination of mathematical modelling, synthetic biology, and eco-evolutionary lab experiments to study how microbial interactions influence the evolution of cooperation, population diversity and disease processes. I obtained a BSc in Biosciences (1st) at Cardiff University (2009) and a PhD at the University of Exeter (2016).

Interests:

Interactions between organisms, both cooperative and competitive, occur in creatures from complex humans to simple RNA viruses. I am interested in how these ecological interactions evolved, how they influence the success of individuals and populations, and how they influence disease.

Fungi are model organisms for understanding eukaryotic evolution and represent important systems of study for disease management and food security. My current research is examining nutrient acquisition by fungi, how feeding mechanisms evolve and how external digestion can influence the fitness of a pathogen population and the damage that they cause to plants. I am also using the Rice Blast Fungus Magnaporthe oryzae to investigate antifungal resistance evolution and disease transmission

Qualifications:

BSc in Biosciences (1st) at Cardiff University (2009). My research project was studying the influence of climate change on the interactions between saprotrophic fungi and mycophagous arthropods, supervised by Dr. Hefin Jones and Prof. Lynne Boddy.

PhD at the University of Exeter (2016). Supervised by Prof. Ivana Gudelj and Prof. Nick Talbot. Thesis: Polymorphic metabolism and the eco-evolutionary influence of social feeding strategies. I studies microbial metabolic interactions with the Rice Blast Fungus Magnaporthe oryzae and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Career:

2021 - present BBSRC Researcher co-Investigator with Prof. Ivana Gudelj (University of Exeter).

2019 - 2021 Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow with Prof. Ivana Gudelj (University of Exeter).

2016 - 2019 ERC Research Fellow with Prof. Ivana Gudelj (University of Exeter).

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