Laura Lee

My first degree was in Biochemistry, which I completed in 2015 at the University of Bath. During this time, I had the opportunity to spend a year working in a molecular parasitology lab in Hamburg under the Erasmus scheme. Here, I investigated the roles of a novel small Heat Shock Protein in virulence and stress-tolerance of the disease-causing parasite Leishmania donovani. I then moved to the University of Bristol, where I completed my PhD in 2018 in the School of Biochemistry. The focus of my doctoral research was the regulation of mitochondrial dynamics and clearance by stress-induced post-translational modifications. It was here that I developed an interest in protein degradation and the interplay between small protein modifiers such as Ubiquitin and SUMO. Following my PhD, I changed direction and spent 2 years working in the DNA-protein Interactions Unit in Bristol, defining the mechanisms and kinetics of CRISPR/Cas12a DNA editing technology.

I joined the University of Oxford Botnar Research Centre in January 2021, where I am working in the Christianson lab to develop next-generation tools for the study of Ubiquitin E3 ligase Hrd1-mediated ERAD mechanisms, with the aim of identifying druggable targets for myeloma therapies.