Principal Investigator
Yu Ye
UK DRI Group LeaderLecturer at Imperial College London
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Cambridge, Ph.D
Imperial College London, BSc Biochemistry/Biotechnology Profile: UK DRI - Imperial College London - Researcher Interview
Email: yu.ye1@imperial.ac.uk
Bio: After undergraduate studies at Imperial, I continued with a PhD at St John's College, University of Cambridge. My training in David Komander's lab at MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology combined structural biology with biophysical techniques to study molecular details underlying regulation in the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). Following this, I was fortunate to secure funding first through a Henslow Junior Research Fellowship and then a Sir Henry Wellcome Research Fellowship to study the UPS and protein aggregation with super-resolution imaging techniques. Working between David Klenerman's group at Cambridge and Daniel Finley's group at Harvard, my research focused on using the UPS system to remove protein aggregates. I am now excited to join UK DRI at Imperial College London, where my group continues to study the interplay between UPS, protein aggregation, neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation.
Current researchers
Michael Morten
Research Associate in BiophysicsUniversity of St Andrews, Ph.D Biology
University of Oxford, MChem
Email: m.morten@imperial.ac.uk
Bio: I currently work on developing novel techniques to image aggregates in cells and tissues. I have previously used single-molecule TIRF and confocal microscopes in my PhD research (University of St Andrews) and postdoc projects (University of Glasgow and NYU School of Medicine), and I am now in the process of building a new light sheet microscope here in the Ye Group at the UK DRI at Imperial.
Emma Mee Hayes
Research Associate in Stem Cell BiologyUniveristy of Oxford, Ph.D Neuroscience
Trinity College Dublin, MSc Neuroscience
University College Dublin, BSc Biomedical, Health and Life Sciences
Email: e.mee-hayes@imperial.ac.uk
Bio: I completed my PhD studies at the Cader lab in a collaborative project between the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical company Roche. My research focused on using a CRISPR-screen to study the effects of the mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) pathway on tau aggregation in iPSC-derived neurons. I joined the Ye lab in March, 2020 where I am researching the function of the proteasome in patient-derived iPSC neurons.
Current students
Liina Sirvio
Graduate StudentImperial College London, MRes Molecular and Cellular Biosciences.
King's College London, BSc Biochemistry Profile: Imperial College London
Email: l.sirvio18@imperial.ac.uk
Bio: I am a PhD student at the UK Dementia Research Institute investigating the role of post-translational modifications of amyloid proteins in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Prior to starting my PhD, I completed my BSc in Biochemistry at KCL, MRes at Imperial College London, and worked as a research technician in the Ultanir Lab at The Francis Crick Institute.
Tom Chua
Graduate Project StudentImperial College London, MRes Drug Discovery and Development 2022
University of Warwick, BSc Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry
Email: t.chua21@imperial.ac.uk
Bio: I am a graduate student studying for a MRes Drug Discovery and Development at Imperial College London.
Imogen Hequet
Graduate Project StudentImperial College London, MSc Health Data Analytics and Machine Learning 2022
University of Oxford, BA
Email: imogen.hequet21@imperial.ac.uk
Bio: I am a graduate student studying for a MSc Health Data Analytics and Machine Learning at Imperial College London. Prior to starting my Masters, I studied Human Sciences at Oxford.
Katy Guo
Graduate Project StudentImperial College London, MSc Health Data Analytics and Machine Learning 2022
Beijing Normal University, BSc Applied Statistics
Email: yuhan.guo21@imperial.ac.uk
Bio: I am a graduate student studying for a MSc Health Data Analytics and Machine Learning at Imperial College London. Prior to starting my Masters, I have worked as a data scientist and analyst at several major international companies.
Yiqing Yao
Graduate Project StudentImperial College London, MSc Optics and Photonics 2022
Beijing Institute of Technology, BSc Opto-Electronics Information Science and Engineering
Email: eric.yao21@imperial.ac.uk
Bio: I am a graduate student studying for a MSc Optics and Photonics at Imperial College London. My research in the lab is to develop an automated azimuthal TIRF system for rapid 3D image acquisition.
YuJean Kim
UROP StudentImperial College London, BSc Biological Sciences 2022
Email: yujean.kim19@imperial.ac.uk
Bio: I am an Imperial graduate student currently doing UROP research. My project is to develop toxicity assays to quantitatively define specific aggregate species derived from human donors.
