Biography

The main focus of my research interest lies in signal transduction to translation, especially nutrient and stress responses, RNA-protein regulatory networks impinging on the control of protein synthesis. This started with my PhD studying regulation of elongation factor 2 kinase where I identified CDK1 as an upstream kinase for signalling to eEF2. During this time I also worked on amino acid signalling through mTOR and the fact that in TSC2 null cells, mTOR was still sensitive to the depletion of amino acids. Following this work I changed fields to work on signal transduction at the G2/M transition of the cell cycle and focused on the roles of PLK1 and CDK1 on centrosome separation. I also contributed to a study on the phenotypes of aurora kinase depletion/inhibition. From here I decided to go back into the translational control field and under the supervision of Martin Bushell and Anne Willis started working again on mTOR signalling and RNA binding proteins. I was very fortunate to gain knowledge during this time in the Bushell lab on micro RNAs and also through collaboration with the group of Giovanna Mallucci, worked to gain mechanistic insight into the unfolded protein response and eIF2 alpha signalling.