A Little Bit About Me.....

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Hello, my name is John! I joined the EPSRC-SFI Centre for Doctoral Training in Transformative Pharmaceutical Technologies as a PhD student of the SSPC back in 2020. I joined the Pharmaceutics Research Group in University College Cork and I'm supervised by Dr Katie Ryan and Prof. Abina Crean. We are currently investigating the effect of different material properties on protein/peptide adsorption behavior and the consequent impact on protein functional behavior and stability. 

However, before getting to the PhD level I completed a BSc in Biochemistry and a Research MSc in Chemistry from University College Cork. Yes, I've really been here for 6 years 😏 For my BSc I synthesized and characterized 6 multi-functional cell permeable probes based on phosphorescent Pt-porphyrin dyes via thiol click chemistry and tested them for their cell-staining ability on a live-cell confocal microscope displaying high brightness, photostability, uniform biodistribution and good cell penetration. For my MSc I made a switch from Biochemistry to Chemistry because I fancied a change and I was fresh out of an internship in Dr Simon Lawrence's lab where I studied nucleation. I chose to stay in Chemistry with Dr Lawrence because he offered me the chance to expand my skillset. My MSc investigated the crystal energy landscape of 22 sulfonamides, expanding known crystal structures of the substance class by 8. I contributed 1 new polymorph and classified all known sulfonamide crystal structures with respect to intermolecular interactions into 7 graph set groups. I also generated 3 novel cocrystals in this investigation. 

When I finished my MSc I opted to return to biological research in Dr Jane English's lab at the INFANT Research Centre where I worked on a proteomics project where I analyzed the protein profile in cord blood of children with known ASD outcomes with Dr Shridharan Parthasarathy. Following which I joined the School of Pharmacy for my PhD in Pharmaceutics which is where I am now!



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