2018

I accepted a role as Research Associate at Newcastle University on the AuToDeCRA2 Project.

2018

Graduated from St Andrews University in PhD in Medicine.

2017-2018

I took up a position as a Research Fellow at St Andrews University. The project title was 'Investigating the Role that HLA-B27 plays in Ankylosing Spondylitis'. This involved using viral vectors and plasmid vectors to transfect HeLa cells and monocyte derived dendritic cells (moDC) with our gene of interest. Following this cells were analysed for their protein expression and SWATH MS performed to search for up regulation or down regulation of proteins on this disease model.

2013-2016

My research as a PhD student at St Andrews University revolved around extracellular vesicles (EV) and their potential for use in gene therapy for Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS). AS is an autoimmune disease of the lower back very similar to arthritis. Inflammation usually occurs at the sacroiliac joint and prolonged disease can lead to fusion of the spine. There is currently no cure for this disease and the mode of disease has not yet been confirmed.

2013

Graduated with a 1st in Medical Microbiology and Immunology from Newcastle University.

I'm embarking on the AuToDeCRA2 project in the laboratory of Prof John Isaacs. This involves the development and use of tolerogenic Dendritic cells (tolDC) in a therapy to reprogram the immune system away from an inflammatory pathway in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Hopefully this therapy will have long-term effects.

• Ramirez MI, Amorim MG, Gadelha C, Milic I, Welsh JA, Freitas VM, Nawaz M, Akbar N, Couch Y, Makin L, Cooke F, Vettore AL, Batista PX, Freezor R, Pezuk JA, Rosa-Fernandes L, Carreira ACO, Devitt A, Jacobs L, Silva IT, Coakley G, Nunes DN, Carter D, Palmisano G, Dias-Neto E. Technical challenges of working with extracellular vesicles. Nanoscale 2018, 10, 881-906.
• McReynolds N, Cooke FG, Chen M, Powis SJ, Dholakia K. Multimodal discrimination of immune cells using a combination of Raman spectroscopy and digital holographic microscopy. Scientific Reports 2017, 7, 43631.
• Guiliano DB, North H, Panayoitou E, Campbell EC, McHugh K, Cooke FG, Silvestre M, Bowness P, Powis SJ, Antoniou AN. Polymorphisms in the F Pocket of HLA-B27 Subtypes Strongly Affect Assembly, Chaperone Interactions, and Heavy-Chain Misfolding. Arthritis & Rheumatology 2017, 69(3), 610-621.
• Synowsky SA, Shirran SL, Cooke FGM, Antoniou AN, Botting CH, Powis SJ. The major histocompatibility complex class I immunopeptidome of extracellular vesicles. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2017, 292, 17084-17092.