BreakThru Research Podcast

Marta Mirecka is a PhD at Biomedical Research Centre in Sheffield Hallam University, with a passion for cardiovascular science, gut-brain relationship and linguistic.

Knowing the therapeutic effect of exercises on heart health, and having investigated the topic of testosterone thoroughly, she believes that more research is needed to prove already existing theory, that testosterone treatment and myokines can help combat the diseases such as atherosclerosis.
Apart from cardiovascular science, she is passionate about gut-brain axis, its link to mental health and immune response. She is big advocate of targeting you microbiome approach first, and then If still needed, looking into pharmaceutical solutions.

Dr Asquith graduated with a degree in Engineering Physics in 2001 and shortly after studied for an MPhil in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Sheffield University (2004).

In 2008, he did a PhD in the department of Materials Science, also at the University of Sheffield.

Both projects studied surface engineered aluminium with synchrotron diffraction to understand fatigue performance.

After finishing his studies, David worked as a Post-Doc. at the University of Sheffield on a variety of experimental mechanics projects in the Mechanical Engineering department.

David joined Sheffield Hallam University as a Lecturer in 2010 and now he is a Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering and part of the Materials and Engineering Research Institute (MERI).

Praise Ishola is a MSc Big Data Analytics student in the Computing Department which is part of the Business, Technology and Engineering College and he is also work as the Web & Communications Assistant in Industry Innovation Research Institute (I2Ri).

He has worked in several different roles in Sheffield Hallam University, such as the Business, Technology and Engineering College Officer 2020, and President of the Student Union 2021 where he had the opportunity of attending Board of Governors, Academic Board, university management.

He was nominated for Leadership Award and Inclusivity & Diversity Award and won Inclusivity and Diversity Award for Inspirational Student Awards.

He has been awarded the Bronze Award, Silver Award and Gold Award of the Hallam Award.

He studied computer science as an undergraduate. Implemented several policies in the university and at national level, also ran several student campaigns.

Social media handle ipraiz - instagram, officialipraiz - twitter, IPRAIZ - Youtube, Praise Ishola on facebook.

She has a PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Nanyang  Technological University, Singapore (NTU). 

She joined Sheffield Hallam  University in 2016 and currently is a senior lecturer in Systems  Engineering and course leader for MSc Advanced Engineering and  Management in the Department of Engineering and Mathematics. Prior to  joining Hallam, she was a visiting scholar at Georgia Institute of  Technology, USA.

She also worked as a researcher at Centre of Innovation at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore. Before that, she was a lecturer at  Wuhan Institute of  Technology, China, where she led the industrial  training program of surface mount technology in collaboration with  Foxconn Technology Group.

Yasmine is an experienced Researcher with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry and on multi-national projects. Skilled in areas of Criminal Intelligence, Forensic Sciences, Research Management, Security and Policing, Societal Aspects and Applied Psychology coupled to advanced multi-lingual abilities.Currently, Yasmine is an Associate Lecturer for the Department of Computing and second-year PhD student researching resistance and counter-strategies to Surveillance and Artificial Intelligence use by Law Enforcement at Sheffield Hallam University, preceded with a Master of Science (MSc) in Crime Science, Investigation, and Intelligence from University of Portsmouth (2017) and an undergraduate degree in Forensic Sciences from the American University of Science and Technology, Lebanon (2015).

Xu graduated from Xidian University, Xi’an, China after completing a BEng course in Automation. She studied an MSc in Control Systems Engineering (with Distinction) and subsequently a PhD covering the areas of nonlinear dynamical systems, cellular automata, optimal control and sliding mode control engineering at the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, the University of Sheffield.

Xu carried out research on an EPSRC funded project as a Postdoctoral Research Associate on cellular automata for micro-structural modelling at the University of Sheffield between 2009 and 2011. Her past work experience also includes working as an Associate Lecturer in Sheffield Hallam University and an Academic Tutor in Sheffield International College.

Xu worked as a Lecturer and then a Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University between 2015 and 2019. She was previously the Course Leader for MSc Automation, Control and Robotics between 2016 and 2019, but has since stepped down to take on a new role of Postgraduate Research Tutor for the Materials and Engineering Research Institute & the Department of Engineering and Mathematics in October 2019. Xu has been promoted to Reader in January 2020.

An experienced Innovation Manager with a  background in multidisciplinary chemistry. Hardworking and enthusiastic  with commercial and academic experience. Wide range of technical and  project management skills with the ability to learn new concepts with  ease and an excellent communicator across academic, industrial and  clinical interfaces. Strong knowledge of the medical technology sector  and associated regulatory frameworks.

I  graduated with a first class integrated masters degree in chemistry,  which included an industrial year at AstraZeneca. I then went on to do  my PhD on peptide self-assembly for biomedical applications that was  based on an interdisciplinary approach, taking a scientific discovery in  chemistry and translating it into a potentially beneficial tool for  biomedical engineering.

During my PhD I won numerous prizes including the University of Leeds postgraduate researcher of the year 2010.

Specialties:  peptide self-assembly, the spine, medical technologies, medical  devices, biomaterials, hydrogels, translational research, microscopy,  spectrometry, communication, project management, commercialisation,   leadership.

Interests: technology transfer, knowledge transfer, scientific communication, entrepreneurship and innovation.

She is currently working as the Innovation Manager at Sheffield Hallam University's Industry and Innovation Research Institute.

Contact: dm6001@exchange.shu.ac.uk

I was appointed as a lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University in 2008 following a post doc at the University of Leeds in 2005 and post as Research Fellow at the Interdepartmental Centre of Mass Spectrometry, University of Florence, Italy (2005-2008). I teach separation and detection techniques, analytical science and bioanalytical methods. I am an internationally known researcher in the area of Forensic and Bioanalytical Mass Spectrometry and I work closely with DSTL and West Yorkshire Police UK. I have been awarded the title of Professor of Forensic and Bioanalytical Mass Spectrometry in 2018.. I am the deputy Head of the Centre for Mass Spectrometry Imaging and the Head of the Bioanalytical Research Group since 2020.

Dr Alessandra Princivalle BSc, PhD, FHEA was appointed as Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University after completing a Laurea in Molecular Biology at the University of Milan (IT), and a Professional Body course and examination at University of Pavia (IT) and a PhD at University of Birmingham. She has taught molecular biology at the University of Milan at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Molecular Pharmacology and Neurobiology at Sheffield Hallam. She is an internationally known researcher in the area of epilepsy.

Dr. Alex Shenfield is currently an Associate Professor of Machine Learning at Sheffield Hallam University. He joined Sheffield Hallam University in November 2013 from Manchester Metropolitan University and is a Senior Member of the IEEE (SMIEEE) and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). His main research interests are in the field of machine learning and particularly in its application to real-world problems in image processing and pattern recognition, healthcare, and Industry 4.0.

Dr Susan Campbell was appointed Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam in 2013 and teaches across a range of undergraduate and post-graduate modules across the Biosciences degree programmes. Her research interests focus on understanding how cells regulate protein synthesis during stress and disease.

She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, the Postgraduate Tutor for the Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre and the local ambassador for the Biochemical Society.

During Rachel's undergraduate at the University of Ottawa (Canada), she worked on green chemistry methods to produce nanoparticles. During her PhD at the University of Western Ontario (Canada), Rachel used carbon and nitrogen isotopes to understand the ecology of Pleistocene megafauna, such as the woolly mammoth. Rachel's post-doc at Newcastle University (UK) used lipid biomarkers to investigate the nitrogen cycle through time, from the present going back to the Jurassic.

@pgrcomputingshu

Here at Hallam, Rachel is bringing her love of the environment and chemistry background to teach a range of biology and chemistry subjects, as well as to her research career using lipid biomarkers to study nitrogen cycle and methane cycle bacteria in natural and applied settings.

Dr Alessandro Di Nuovo Professor of Machine Intelligence. His research specialises in computational intelligence and its application to cognitive modelling, human-robot interaction, computer-aided assessment of intellectual disabilities, and embedded computer systems. Listen in as he discusses the real life application of his research with our Innovation manager Yvonne Armitage.

Dr Carlos Da Silva a senior lecturer in software engineering with the Department of Computing of Sheffield Hallam University joins us for another interesting interview surrounding his work. Tune in today and find out more about his work. HE is actively involved in R&D in the area of Software Engineering and its interplay with Information Security, exploring topics like Self-adaptive Software Systems, Service-orientation and Business Process, Secure by design, Digital Identity Management and Access Control

This week we're speaking with Dr Daniel Allwood who's current research programme is focused on the development of practical synthetic and catalytic organic transformations; in particular, sp2-sp3 and sp3-sp3 carbon-carbon bond formation. Listen in as Dr Marjory Da Costa Abreu quizzes Daniel on his expertise.

Dr Catherine Duckett is part of the Bioanalytical Research Group in the BMRC. Catherine's research is focussed on drug metabolism and analytical procedures used to develop novel pharmacological and biomedical applications with a particular emphasis on ICPMS methodologies including imaging. Tune in to listen about the journey behind her success.

Dr Christopher R Roast has worked in a variety of areas oriented to practical and applied research within computing and interaction design. Listen in as Yvonne Armitage our innovation manager dives deeper into Chris' work.

Dr Robin Smith specialises in the fields of radiation detection, nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics, examining the shapes of atomic nuclei and determining the rates of fusion reactions in stars. Listen in as he discusses his work with our innovation manager Yvonne Armitage.

Dr Nicola Aberdein teaches physiology and anatomy at undergraduate level, and is part of the Healthcare Science Degree Apprenticeship lecturing team. Nicola has spent time in the United States as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Mississippi Medical Center where she took an integrative approach to physiology investigating leptin's major actions in the central nervous system in response to diet induced obesity. Tune in as she speaks about her journey with Marjory Da Costa Abreu.

Professor Malcolm Clench of Mass Spectrometry, Head of the Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre. Tunes in to talk to Dr Marjory Da Costa Abreu about his research interests that cover the development and application of techniques in mass spectrometry imaging. How the combination of mass spectrometry imaging with 3D cell culture can be developed to provide a powerful platform for early stage safety and efficacy testing of drugs and toxicants. 

Dr Keith Miller's research group is interested in all areas of antimicrobial chemotherapy research. He is investigating new sources of antimicrobial agents including snake and scorpion venom, deep sea corals and novel synthetic drug scaffolds. Keith is trying to identify and characterise the interactions between drugs and their targets at a molecular level. Tune in as he discusses his career journey with Marjory Da Costa Abreu.

Listen in to hear about Dr Laura Cole speaking to Marjory Da Costa Abreu about her career. Laura was appointed a lecturing post at Sheffield Hallam University having completed a BSc Biomedical Science and a PhD in cancer research at the University. Dr Cole is a Course Leader of the BSc Biomedical Science Course and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her research interests include Proteomics and Mass Spectrometry Imaging to investigate tumour progression and treatment resistance mechanisms.

Professor Chris Sammon of Polymer Science a chemist with an interest in the design, characterisation and manufacture of polymer systems for a range of applications mainly at the interface with biology. Tune in as he speaks about his research but also his role as the head of Polymers, Nanocomposites and Modelling Research Centre.

Professor Andrew Alderson the Director of the Industry and Innovation Research Institute. Listen in as Yvonne Armitage our innovation manager speaks to Andy about not only his role as Institute director, but also his advanced materials research.

Marjory discusses her research into applied artificial intelligence, more specifically, data-mining and machine learning applied to user data analysis and biometrics. Yvonne Armitage our Innovations manager dives into Marjory's Research and her role in STEM. Discussing the challenges faced by women in science.

Christine discusses her research with the Innovation manager Yvonne Armitage. Giving us an insight into the work she does, Christine also gives us a feel for her personal life surrounding her career.