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Prof Michael Webb
Prof Richard Bayliss
Dr Megan Wright
No more applications being accepted
Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
Phosphohistidine is an ubiquitous modification in bacterial cell signaling, however its function in eukaryotic cells has not been defined. In this project, you will combine the use of existing chemical tools with chemical proteomics, biophysics and structural biology to characterize the interaction of known phosphohistidine modifying proteins with their substrates and to identify candidate proteins in human cells capable of acting to controllably remove the modification. The project would suit either a biochemistry or chemistry graduate with an interest in exploring the chemistry/biology interface.
Find out more about the group at our website: http://www.chem.leeds.ac.uk/MEW
Find out more about the group at our website: http://www.chem.leeds.ac.uk/MEW
Funding Notes
White Rose BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnership in Mechanistic Biology
4 year fully-funded programme of integrated research and skills training, starting Oct 2020:
• Research Council Stipend
• UK/EU Tuition Fees
• Conference and research funding
Requirements:
At least a 2:1 honours degree or equivalent. We welcome students with backgrounds in biological, chemical or physical sciences, or mathematical backgrounds with an interest in biological questions.
EU candidates require 3 years of UK residency to receive full studentship
Not all projects will be funded; the DTP will appoint a limited number of candidates via a competitive process.
https://phd.leeds.ac.uk/funding/81-white-rose-bbsrc-doctoral-training-partnership-in-mechanistic-biology
4 year fully-funded programme of integrated research and skills training, starting Oct 2020:
• Research Council Stipend
• UK/EU Tuition Fees
• Conference and research funding
Requirements:
At least a 2:1 honours degree or equivalent. We welcome students with backgrounds in biological, chemical or physical sciences, or mathematical backgrounds with an interest in biological questions.
EU candidates require 3 years of UK residency to receive full studentship
Not all projects will be funded; the DTP will appoint a limited number of candidates via a competitive process.
https://phd.leeds.ac.uk/funding/81-white-rose-bbsrc-doctoral-training-partnership-in-mechanistic-biology
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Career overview
Professor Michael Webb is a biological chemist with a particular interest in the emerging field of engineering biology. He obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge, where he worked with the late Professor Chris Abell. Following this, he undertook postdoctoral research with Professor Stephen Benkovic at Penn State University and Professor Alison Smith in Plant Sciences at Cambridge. Professor Webb joined the School of Chemistry at the University of Leeds as a Lecturer in Chemical Biology in 2007, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2014, and became a Professor of Biological Chemistry in 2023. His research interests lie at the interface of biochemistry and chemistry, and he is a member of the Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology.
Research interests
Professor Webb''s research interests lie at the interface of biochemistry and chemistry, with a particular focus on biosynthesis and mechanistic aspects of protein chemistry. His work has included investigations into the pathways for essential metabolites such as pantothenate (vitamin B5), thiamine (vitamin B1), purines (the building blocks of DNA), and sirohaem, with current studies concentrating on the regulation within these pathways. Recently, he has developed interests in the controlled modification of proteins, the chemical biology of phosphorylation, and the biosynthesis of natural products. Notable highlights from his research include the characterisation of a fifth protein essential for pantothenate biosynthesis in bacteria, the development of methods for quantitative N-terminal labelling of proteins, and the synthesis of stable analogues of phosphorylated histidine. His research group employs a variety of biophysical approaches, including calorimetry, macromolecular crystallography, and organic synthesis. More detailed information about recent research and current projects can be found on the group website.
Biological Chemistry
Chemical Biology
Bioorganic Chemistry
Biosynthesis
Engineering Biology
Protein Chemistry
Metabolites
Pantothenate
Thiamine
Purines
Sirohaem
Protein Modification
Chemical Biology of Phosphorylation
Natural Products
Biophysical Approaches
Calorimetry
Macromolecular Crystallography
Organic Synthesis.
Career overview
Prof. Richard Bayliss graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1997 with a 1st class honours degree in Natural Sciences, specialising in biological, organic, and theoretical chemistry. He completed his PhD in molecular biology at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge in 2000 and was subsequently elected to a Research Fellowship at Trinity College. Prof. Bayliss continued his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Elena Conti at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, funded by an EMBO Long Term Fellowship, and in the group of Gabriel Waksman at Birkbeck College, London. In 2006, he established his independent research group at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, funded by a Royal Society Research Fellowship and Cancer Research UK. He moved to the University of Leicester in 2011 as a Reader in the Department of Biochemistry and was promoted to a Chair in 2014, receiving the Frank May Prize. Prof. Bayliss relocated to the University of Leeds in 2016 to assume his current role as Professor of Molecular Medicine and a member of the Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology. He served as Head of the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology from 2018 to 2019.
Research interests
Prof. Bayliss''s research aims to understand the molecular mechanisms that cause disease and to develop new or improved therapies. His work focuses on protein kinases associated with cancer signalling pathways, the transcription factor Myc, the assembly and function of the spindle assembly, proteostasis, and structure-based approaches to drug discovery. Additionally, he has interests in synthetic biology, microcephaly, and kinases associated with infectious disease. His research is supported by various funding bodies, including BBSRC, MRC, and CRUK MRC.
Career overview
Dr Megan Wright obtained a PhD in Chemical Biology from Imperial College London in 2013, where she worked under the supervision of Prof. Edward Tate on the development of chemical tools to study protein lipidation in protozoan parasites. Following her PhD, she was awarded an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship, allowing her to remain at Imperial for an additional year. Dr Wright then received a Marie Curie Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral research at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, hosted by Prof. Stephan Sieber. In 2016, she joined the University of Leeds as a University Academic Fellow, a tenure-track position equivalent to Lecturer, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2022. Her research group focuses on the development of chemical tools to study biological mechanisms.
Research interests
Dr Wright''s research employs the creativity of chemistry to understand fundamental biology and address significant questions in health and disease. Her work focuses on chemical proteomics, developing chemical tools to detect and manipulate small molecule-protein interactions, which include the modification of proteins with small molecules, drug binding to enzymes, and signal-receptor interactions. This research is highly interdisciplinary, encompassing organic and peptide synthesis, protein biochemistry, cell biology, and quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Dr Wright is particularly interested in exploring molecular interactions within living systems. Her research examines the interplay between bacterial pathogens and host cells, investigating how cells communicate and manipulate each other using small molecule signals. A key area of her work involves ''weaponising'' compounds with photo- or chemically-reactive functionalities to stabilise their interactions with protein targets. To facilitate studies in live cells, she develops probes equipped with small, minimally disruptive tags that serve as handles for selective labelling of probe-protein complexes for analysis. Current projects in Dr Wright''s group include developing new chemical tools to understand communication between human and bacterial cells, understanding protein-protein interactions through chemical tools and mass spectrometry, discovering new anti-infectives and elucidating their modes of action, and designing chemical tools to map redox changes to proteins in cells.
Chemical Biology
Proteomics
Organic Synthesis
Biochemistry
Chemical Tools
Protein Lipidation
Small Molecule-Protein Interactions
Drug Binding
Signal-Receptor Interaction
Interdisciplinary Research
Mass Spectrometry
Cell Biology
Redox Changes
Anti-Infectives
Protein-Protein Interactions
Bacterial Pathogens
Host-Cell Communication
Chemical Probes
Selective Labelling.
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