PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Professor Sir David Klenerman
David Klenerman's research is focused on developing and applying biophysical methods to biological and biomedical problems. His work using fluorescence and scanning probe microscopy has provided new insights into a variety of biomolecular complexes as well as the processes of protein folding and misfolding. David has also developed techniques to image individual protein complexes on the surface of living cells to follow the processes occurring as the adaptive immune response is triggered. These methods are now being used to study neurodegenerative disease.
David is a research fellow at the Royal Society, a fellow at the Academy of Medical Sciences and a fellow at Christ's College.
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS
Dr Evgenia Lobanova
Evgenia obtained her BSc degree in Physics from Moscow State University in 2012. In 2014, she received her MSc degree in Physics from the same university. Soon after graduation, Evgenia moved to Cardiff where in 2019 she completed her PhD degree (Oct. 2015 – Oct. 2019) from Cardiff University (the group of Prof Kathy Triantafilou and Dr Martha Triantafilou) focusing on quantitative chemical imaging and hyperspectral image analysis of post-mortem Alzheimer’s disease human brains with label-free Raman micro-spectroscopy. In January 2020, she joined the Klenerman lab as a postdoctoral research associate. At her current position, Evgenia is working on quantitative chemical imaging of
soluble individual protein aggregates in Parkinson’s disease using DNA PAINT and SiMPull techniques aiming to establish whether these methods could reveal useful neuroimaging biomarkers for early diagnosis.
Dr Shekhar Kedia
Shekhar is a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Klenerman's group. He completed his PhD in Neuroscience (2020) from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India and was awarded a gold medal for his thesis. His research interests lie in understanding the nanoscale triggers of neurodegenerative disorders using biophysical approaches and how these alterations at the synapses contribute towards the onset of such diseases. It was piqued during his PhD research and continues to grow within his current research. He is attempting to address the challenges associated with rapid extraction and nanoscale imaging of synapses from brain tissues.
Dr Yunzhao Wu
Yunzhao is a post-doctoral researcher working on elucidating the mechanisms of p53 aggregation in cancer with super-resolution imaging. He graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2017 and obtained his master’s degree at the University of Tokyo in 2019. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking Chinese food (especially Sichuan cuisines because I’m a big fan of Chef Wang) and playing standalone games.
Dr. Matthew Cotton
Matthew is a postdoctoral researcher developing mathematical models of protein aggregation in dementia-causing diseases. He completed his DPhil studying the physics of protein organisation at the University of Oxford.
Dr Arpan Dey
Arpan is a postdoctoral researcher in the Klenerman Group. He completed his integrated PhD from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India. Currently, he is trying to understand the effect of amyloid-induced immune responses in neurodegeneration. Apart from doing science, he loves to illustrate and communicate his science for common people. He is a great chef too, not sure whether he loves to cook for others as well!
Dr Georg Meisl
Georg is a postdoctoral researcher developing mathematical models of protein aggregation and neurodegenerative disease. He received his Msc in Chemistry and his PhD in biophysical Chemistry from the University of Cambridge. Following this, he was a Ramon Jenkins Research Fellow at Sidney Sussex College. Before joining the Klenerman group, Georg worked as a Principal Scientist in the pharmaceutical industry on the development of drugs against Parkinson's disease and ALS.
Dr Yu Zhang
Yu is a post-doctoral researcher working on developing advanced single molecule techniques towards in-depth research of the molecular basis of major neurogenerative diseases. Before moving to Cambridge, where he worked under the joint supervision of Prof. David Klenerman and Dr Steven Lee, he studied nanomaterials at Imperial College, following my physics undergrad training in Durham. He is a loyal Overwatch Player, though his aim is terrible. (So, he play support)
Dr Ziwei Zhang
Ziwei is a post-doctoral researcher on a joint-project between the Klenerman’s group and the Laue group in the Department of Biochemistry at Cambridge. He will be working on developing current light-sheet microscopes in the lab and then use them to perform 3D super-resolution imaging of proteins and other interesting biological samples. He has completed his degree in Physics at Imperial College London before coming to Cambridge. In his spare time, he enjoys painting, gaming and cooking.
Prasanna Suresh
Prassana is a PhD student, and will be working on imaging the molecular events leading to Toll-like receptor signalling as part of the innate immune response. Prior to joining the Klenerman Lab, he completed my MChem at the University of Oxford. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking and swimming.
PhD STUDENTS
Daniel Heraghty
Daniel's research focuses on investigating the mechanisms that underlie the initiation of signalling by immune receptors. Prior to joining the lab, he completed his undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He spent his final year in the Department of Pathology, specialising in Immunology. In his spare time he enjoys training at the athletics track, hiking and photography.
Kailai Xiong
Kelly is a PhD student working on using single-molecule methods to study the role of misfolded protein aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases, namely amyloid-β in Alzheimer's Disease and TDP-43 in motor neuron diseases. She completed her undergraduate degree at Imperial College London and obtained a MSci in 2023.
Shaan Baig
Shaan is a PhD student investigating the role of small protein aggregates such as tau, α-synuclein and β-amyloid in traumatic brain injuries. He uses single-molecule methods to study these aggregates in biological samples to elucidates characteristics in acute TBI and profile long-term molecular changes in chronic TBI. This will ultimately inform diagnostic strategies for TBI-associated neurodegeneration. Shaan completed his BSc in Honours Kinesiology and Clinical Exercise Physiology at Concordia University (Montreal, Canada). He then went on to complete his MSc(res) in Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Oxford. Outside the lab, Shaan plays for the varsity ice hockey and lacrosse team.
Tomi Akingbade
Tomi is a PhD student and will be investigating the sensitised inflammatory response to protein aggregation in Alzheimer’s Disease. She completed my MSc in Neuroscience at the University of Nottingham and then went on to work for the NHS as a Medical Laboratory Assistant and as a Research Technician at a UK DRI Centre. To keep herself occupied in her spare time, she work on STEM-focused EDI campaigns and enjoy watching movies.
Asher Dworkin
Asher is a PhD student working on automation and processes in the study of neurodegenerative disease with imaging protein aggregates in human biofluids. He is a student on the EPSRC CDT in Sensor Technologies and completed the MRes working in the Electrical Engineering Department at Cambridge. Prior to this he studied Biomedical Engineering at UCL.
Janice Kim
Janice is a PhD student investigating protein aggregation in Alzheimer’s disease, with a focus on tau aggregation in relation to different isoforms of the apolipoprotein E (apoE) gene. She employs single-molecule techniques, such as super-resolution microscopy and Simoa, in human samples. Janice completed her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience at Dartmouth College in the United States and obtained an MRes in Neuroscience at Imperial College London. Outside the lab, she enjoys Pilates, going on a walk, cooking, baking, and exploring new recipes.
Nicola Yeung
Nicola is an MB/PhD student currently undertaking a PhD as an integrated part of her medical degree, investigating inflammasome complexes in stroke. She is interested in how inflammasome activity evolves from the acute phase of stroke through to the stages of chronic recovery and repair. Nicola completed her preclinical undergraduate studies at the University of Cambridge, specialising in Physiology, Development and Neuroscience in her final year. Alongside her research, she supervises undergraduates at Christ’s College, teaching second-year Physiology and third-year Physiology, Development and Neuroscience. She is also a member of her College chapel choir and enjoys playing the cello and swimming.
Shih-Huan Huang
Shih-Huan's research focuses on developing a theoretical framework to explain pathological data in neurodegenerative diseases, including progressive supranuclear palsy and Alzheimer's disease, by studying their underlying molecular mechanisms. He obtained my bachelor's degree in Physics from National Taiwan University, where he optimized optical microscopy to its theoretical limit for my undergraduate project, sparking his interest in applying theoretical frameworks to biological systems. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, cooking, and have climbed over ten 3000m+ mountains in Taiwan.
Yuhao Cui
Yuhao is a PhD student working on single molecule studies of Toll-like receptor 4 signalling pathway. Prior to joining the Klenerman Lab in 2023, he obtained a BSc in Chemistry at Nankai University in China and a MRes in Biological and Physical Chemistry at Imperial College London.
Lab Manager
Nadia Karimpour
Nadia graduated in Medical Laboratory Science from TUMS and has worked as a Medical Laboratory Scientist in various laboratories and hospitals. Her transition from medical laboratory science in Iran to academic research at institutions such as KTH (Sweden) and King's college London represents a deliberate and passionate career change. Exposure to advanced technologies and collaborative research environments has further fueled his passion for scientific exploration.
Since 2022, Nadia has been a Research Assistant and Laboratory manager at DRI, University of Cambridge.