Current members

Dr michelle holland (Principal investigator/senior lecturer)

Michelle completed a B.Med.Sc (Hons) majoring in molecular biology at The University of Sydney, Australia (2002). After working in the laboratory of Professor Doug Higgs at the MRC Haematology Unit, Oxford, UK, she returned to The University of Sydney to complete her PhD studies (2004-2008), for which she was awarded a Cancer Institute of NSW Research Scholar Award. Michelle then joined the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute as a post-doctoral researcher to study epigenetic control of gene regulation in the laboratory of Professor Catherine Suter before taking up a RCUK Academic Fellowship  in Professor Vardhman Rakyan’s laboratory, Blizard Institute, London, UK. As a post-doctoral researcher she expanded her interest in the role of epigenetic mechanisms as mediators of gene-environment interactions. From 2017, she joined King’s College London as a Lecturer and principal investigator of the Epigenetics and Post-transcriptional Gene Regulation group. Michelle is a recognised Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

dr liudmila mikheeva (post-doctoral research associate)

Mila completed her BSc and MSc in finance and statistics-related disciplines: National Research University, Russia in 2017 (BSc), London School of Economics, UK in 2017 (BSc), University of Essex, UK in 2018 (MSc). After she was awarded the University of Essex Doctoral Scholarship, she started her interdisciplinary PhD project in the Department of Mathematical Sciences and School of Life Science, where she joined the Dr Radu Zabet's Lab. Her project aimed to deepen our knowledge about 3D chromatin architecture, DNA insulation machinery and transcription using statistical methods. Mila did a short postdoc in the Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith's Lab, University of Cambridge in 2022-2023. She worked as a bioinformatician on the project focused on epigenetic mechanisms involved in mammary gland development. In August 2023, Mila moved to the Dr Michelle Holland's Lab, King's College London. She focuses on understanding the mechanisms of epigenetic regulation in relation to anthropomorphic traits linked to obesity and body fat distribution based on UK Biobank data.

fabio grundland freile (phd candidate)

Fabio completed a BSc in Biomedical Science with Extra Mural Year at King’s College London. During his studies, he worked at Professor Joy Burchell’s Laboratory exploring the role of aberrantly glycosylated MUC1 in the breast cancer immune microenvironment. After graduating, he joined Professor Iain McNeish’s group at Imperial College London, where he investigated the therapeutic potential of a novel histone methyltransferase inhibitor in an in-vivo model of ovarian cancer. Additionally, he collaborated with the Wey lab at the Francis Crick Institute to assess the survival benefit of a genetically altered oncolytic virus in a murine high-grade serous carcinoma model. Fabio joined the Holland Lab in October 2021 after being awarded the CRUK KHP PhD studentship. He is currently investigating the role of the extra-cellular matrix in the development of colorectal cancer liver metastasis.

maha heath (phd candidate)

Maha is a PhD student on the CRUK City of London 4 year PhD programme, which is run across 4 partner institutes in London (UCL, Barts/QMUL, King’s Health Partners and the Francis Crick Institute). Her PhD project (under the joint supervision of Dr. Gunnel Halldén (Barts Cancer Institute) and Dr. Michelle Holland (KCL) is focussed on combining oncolytic adenoviruses and epigenetic drugs to activate the host anti-tumour immune response. She has a BSc. in Mathematics and programming, and an MSc.in Molecular pathology and cancer from Barts Cancer Institute.

piotr kwiatkowski (phd candidate)

Piotr received his BSc in Biochemistry from King’s College London in 2020. He spent the final year of his undergraduate degree in the laboratory of Prof. Snezhana Oliferenko at the Francis Crick Institute, where he studied the process of nuclear envelope remodelling during mitosis. In addition, during his studies Piotr was awarded a studentship to carry out a research project in the laboratory of Prof. Michael Malim, where he first became interested in understanding virus-host interactions, working on cellular proteins involved in the modulation of HIV-1 infection. Piotr is currently a PhD student on the MRC DTP programme. His project, jointly supervised by Dr. Michelle Holland and Dr. Chad Swanson, aims to unravel the role of m6A RNA modification in regulating the cell-autonomous innate immune response to SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A virus infections.

PAST LAB MEMBERS

Staff

Dr Pui Law -Senior Post-doc

Visiting Scientists

Dr James Miller -Medical Foundation Program Research Placement, 2020

MSc/MRes/MSci Students

Ms Rattan Kaur - visiting MRes placement, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, 2022

Ms Anastasia Li - MSci in Molecular Genetics, 2021

Ms Vanessa Tenkorang - MSc in Pharmacology, 2020

Ms Wanqi Tao - MSc in Genomic Medicine, 2020

Mr Athanasios Dardos - MSc in Biomedical and Molecular Sciences Research, 2018

PhD Rotation Students

Miss Yuyang Cai-LiDo DTP Rotation Student, 2023

Mr James Cain - MRC DTP Rotation Student, 2020

Mr Tek Hong Chung -MRC DTP Rotation Student, 2019

3rd Year Biomedical Science Students

Mr Thomas Cittern-Suddaby Biomedical Science BSc, 3rd Year Project, 2024

Ms Min Waye Chew - Biomedical Science BSc, 3rd Year Project, 2023

Ms Siqi Liu - Biomedical Science BSc, 3rd Year Project, 2022

Ms Kaynath Shahid - Biomedical Science BSc, 3rd Year Project, 2021

Ms Anastasia Li - Biomedical Science BSc, 3rd Year Project, 2020

Mr Joseph Jankinson - Medical Genetics Intercalated BSc, 2019

Mr Adrian Signell - Biomedical Science BSc, 3rd Year Project, 2018

Summer Students

Ms Olivia Rusu -BBSRC LIDO Research Experience Placement, 2019

Ms Mia Cabantous -Biomedical Science BSc, Summer placement, 2018/2019

Mr Keir Murison -University of Cambridge, Summer Placement, 2017