Team photo
Meet the team

The Team

Sian Boothman
Sian Boothman (she/her)
4th year Molecular Genetics student. In my spare time, I enjoy knitting and playing the flute for the Edinburgh University wind band.
Maddie Halil
Maddie Halil (she/her)
Maddie is a Biochemistry undergraduate (Hons) looking to pursue a career in research for a more sustainable world. Outside of academia, Maddie’s a keen ceramicist who regularly practices yoga. In her free time, she organises as part of charity and activism work centred around young people’s well-being and LGBTQ+ liberation
Wesley Koc
Wesley Koc (he/him)
Hi, I study Biotechnology and am in my 4th year. My interests lie in Stem cells, regeneration, and genetic modification. My hobbies are reading sci-fi and fantasy books.
Maximilian Lanz
Maximilian Lanz (he/him)
I am a 4th-year Biotechnology (Hons) student with a keen interest in Regenerative Medicine. Outside of my academic focus, I enjoy tennis, running, skiing, and playing both the violin and piano.
Alistair Rice
Alistair Rice (he/him)
Hey my name's Alistair Rice, I'm a 4th-year biotechnology student at the University of Edinburgh. In my free time, I enjoy playing the piano, reading, and going on walks.
Siddharth Sethia
Siddharth Sethia (he/him)
Hello, I am a 4th-year Immunology student with an interest in Immunotherapy, particularly T-cell-based therapies (especially the recently developed STAR T-cells). In my free time, I enjoy reading papers on the latest developments in Biology, engaging in scientific discourse on Twitter, having jam sessions with friends, and playing football (I am a goalkeeper and occasionally play as a centre-back)
Yurika Uemura
Yurika Uemura (she/her)
I’m currently a fourth-year veterinary student. I’m interested in biomedical sciences, particularly infectious diseases, oncology treatments, and stem cell research. I would like to pursue a career as both a clinician and a researcher, combining my interests. Outside of academics, I enjoy playing sports such as skiing and tennis, and I do a bit of climbing and scuba diving. In my free time, I like reading books especially fiction, and I’m also trying to get into crocheting!

Our Advisors

Dr Heather Barker
Dr Heather Barker helped with nearly every aspect of this project, our work would be impossible without her. She supported our lab operations, assisted with planning experiments, and helped us troubleshoot.
Dr Joanna Sadler
Dr Joanna Sadler
Joanna has a background in organic and bioorganic chemistry, directed evolution and microbial. Her present research focus it the development of new bio-based processes to degrade and upcycle waste plastic into useful chemicals. This includes enzyme discovery, directed evolution, pathway engineering and optimisation and developing novel enzyme display methods.
Dr Nadanai Loahakunakorn
Dr Nadanai Loahakunakorn
Dr Nadanai Laohakunakorn, originally from Bangkok, started off his career working on nanopores and single-molecule biophysics, before carrying out a postdoc in the new and growing field of cell-free synthetic biology. In 2019 he received a Chancellor's Fellowship in Biotechnology to start his own lab at the University of Edinburgh, and in 2021 he received a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship to study the bottom-up construction of biomolecular systems through cell-free protein synthesis.
Professor Chris French
Professor Chris French
I am a Professor of Microbial Biotechnology in the School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh. I originally trained as a bioprocess engineer in New Zealand before doing a Ph.D. in biocatalysis. My research interests include enzymatic biomass processing, DNA assembly, biosensors and biological computation. I have been involved with Edinburgh's iGEM teams since 2006 and with IDEC since its inception in 2021.