Staff profile

I graduated in 2024 from the University of Warwick with a BSc in Biomedical Science and pursued a Microbiology MRes in 2025/26 at the University of Nottingham. I have undertaken research projects that focus on bacterial physiology, ranging from nutrient uptake, to community interactions, to virulence phenotypes.

At the University of Durham, I study uncharacterised TonB-Dependent Transporters (TBDTs) in commensal Neisseria spp, implicated in copper uptake.

TBDTs are 22-stranded beta barrel outer membrane proteins that allow selective uptake of complex nutrients via the opening and closing of a plug domain by a TonB arm-like protein. Commensal Neisseria spp, native to the oral microbiome, encode a wide range of uncharacterised TBDTs that are absent in pathogenic Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria meningitidis. These TBDTs appear to support processes performed by copper-containing enzymes (cuproenzymes), suggesting that they facilitate the import of copper-containing complexes. I am investigating the structure and function of these TBDTs to provide insight into TonB mechanisms, copper homeostasis, the oral microbiome and features that determine commensal vs pathogenic lifestyles in bacteria.