CGEM welcomes the 2023 cohort of PhD students
Four new PhD students have begun their studies this year with CGEM based researchers as supervisors or co-supervisors.
Nika Balkic and Jamey Brewster have joined Cathy Abbott’s research group, whilst Josie Robertson and Vitan Cherepnalkoski have joined the Marioni and Brown Research Groups respectively.
Meet the new PhD Students
Nika Balkic
“I recently completed my undergraduate degree in Molecular Genetics at the University of Edinburgh and am excited about continuing my academic journey at this institution. My primary supervisor during my PhD will be Professor Catherine Abbott and my secondary supervisor will be Dr Alfredo Gonzales-Sulser.
My research project focuses on optimizing pre-clinical models for childhood-onset epilepsy by addressing the challenges related to low frequencies or absence of spontaneous seizures associated with specific genes.
This involves utilizing well-characterized mouse models and employing a variety of methodological approaches. I'm eager to make a meaningful contribution to this field, ultimately benefiting individuals affected by childhood-onset epilepsies.”
Jamey Brewster
“Hi! I’m Jamey, I’ve just started my PhD working in the Abbott and Donlin-Asp labs.
The Abbott lab studies how mutations in a protein involved in translation, eEF1A2, cause epilepsy and intellectual disability, whilst the Donlin-Asp lab works to establish what controls the transport of protein-coding RNA in cells.
My project will focus on how expression of eEF1A2’s ‘sister’ protein, eEF1A1, is regulated during brain development, and whether we could target eEF1A1 RNA in neurons to replace dysfunctional eEF1A2.”
Josie Robertson
"I am an ECAT Clinical Lecturer, incorporating a PhD into my Anaesthetics training to develop a career as a clinical academic. My project is titled “Integration of the physical environment and blood-based multi-omics to explore life-course risk factors for brain health” and focuses on epigenetics and proteomics as a route to understanding the impact of air pollution on brain health in later life.
I am supervised by Riccardo Marioni in the IGC and jointly by Simon Cox (Psychology), Tom Russ (Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences) and Jamie Pearce (Geosciences).”
Vitan Cherepnalkoski
“I’m working with Professors Wilson Poon and Sara Brown.
I am originally from Macedonia where I attended an international high school and followed the US advanced placement program - AP.
With it, I was able to do a direct entry into my university degree and within 4 years graduated with a Master’s in experimental physics.
I knew I wanted to pursue a career in biophysics and decided the best route forward would be to apply for a PhD. I thus joined Professor Wilson’s project in collaboration with Unilever on skin biophysics.
My work will examine how different cleansing agents affect the surface properties of skin and how this in turn affects bacterial adhesion to the skin.”
I am delighted to welcome the four new PhD students to CGEM, where they will make up a vital part of the academic community