Helena Watson
Thesis Title: The molecular basis of antiviral defence in bacteria
Primary Theme: Structural Biology
Franklin supervisor: Professor Jim Naismith and Dr Michael Grange
University: University of Glasgow
University supervisors: Dr Laura Spagnolo and Professor Malcolm White
Helena studied an integrated Master’s degree in Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, and in her final year project she researched ubiquitin signalling regulation proteins. Following this, she joined the Franklin as a PhD student in 2021. Her project involves investigating novel mechanisms of bacterial cell death in response to bacteriophage infections, primarily using cryo electron tomography to image these pathways in situ.
Large Volume Tomography
High resolution large volume tomography with electron microscopy has the potential to transform our understanding of life, by linking the atomic and molecular structure of protein complexes in their biological context – the cell.
Structural Neurobiology
Developing cutting edge techniques to image structures in the brain on the molecular scale so we can identify early structural changes leading to disease onset.