PEOPLE

Chema Martín-Durán, Reader in Organismal Biology

Chema obtained his PhD at University of Barcelona studying the embryonic development of planarian flatworms. After his postdoctoral research at the Sars Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, he moved to Queen Mary University of London to establish a lab that combines his interests in developmental biology, animal evolution, and marine biodiversity.

Allan Carrillo-Baltodano, Postdoc

Allan got his PhD at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, studying neural development in annelids. He is interested in how different modes of development and life histories evolved in marine invertebrates, and will pursue these questions using live imaging, functional analyses and ‘omic’ approaches across annelids.

E-mail: a.carrillo-baltodano<at>qmul.ac.uk

Thomas Mullan, Postdoc

Thomas completed his PhD at UCL, working on the relationship between unequal cleavage and embryonic neurogenesis in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. He is interested in the origin of both cell types and structures during development and evolution and has joined the lab to study the nature and regulation of heterochronies in larval trunk development in the annelids Owenia fusiformis and Capitella teleta. Using single-cell transcriptomics and other approaches, the goal is to explore life cycle and morphological evolution.

E-mail: t.mullan<at>qmul.ac.uk

Jimena Montagne, Research Technician

Jimena obtained her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology at Universidad de la República in Uruguay. There, she studied stem cell proliferation and differentiation during larval metamorphosis of the tapeworm Hymenolepis microstoma. Now, at Queen Mary University of London, she joined the Martin-Duran Lab to study annelid development.

E-mail: j.montagne<at>qmul.ac.uk

Billie Eliza Davies, LIDo iCASE PhD Student

Billie graduated from Queen Mary University of London with a Master’s Degree in Bioinformatics. During this time, she used amplicon sequencing to study breast cancer biomarkers using Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Billie has joined the team as an i-Case student from the London Interdisciplinary Doctoral Programme and is studying 3D genome architecture with Pore-C technology. She is doing her PhD project in collaboration with Dr Paul Hurd and Dr Alex de Mendoza, with Oxford Nanopore Technologies as an industry partner.

E-mail: b.e.davies<at>qmul.ac.uk

Rory Donnellan, PhD Student

Rory graduated from Queen Mary University with an MSc in evolutionary and ecological genomics, completing a project investigating the impact genome size has on the invasive potential of alien plants in the UK. He is now doing a PhD identifying the mechanisms underpinning head regeneration in the annelid Owenia fusiformis.

E-mail: r.d.donnellan<at>qmul.ac.uk

Jingcheng Wei, CSC PhD Student

Jingcheng graduated from Ocean University of China with a Master’s degree in Aquaculture. During that time, he worked on the taxonomy of Sacoglossa and Nudibranchia sea slugs using integrated methods. He also worked on the phylogeny of Nudibranchia using complete mitochondrial genomes. He is now doing a PhD investigating the genetic control of early spiralian development and establishing functional approaches to exploring annelid embryogenesis.

E-mail: jingcheng.wei<at>qmul.ac.uk

Tom Frankish, PhD Student

Tom completed an MPhil in Palaeontology at the University of Manchester, using X-ray microtomography and phylogenetic analysis to investigate the morphology and affinities of fossil myriapods. He is now doing a PhD in the Martín-Durán lab, utilising two species of annelid worms with distinct timings of trunk development to investigate the developmental and genetic mechanisms behind the evolution of larvae in animals.

E-mail: t.frankish<at>qmul.ac.uk

Lily Winkler, LIDo DTP PhD Student

Lily completed her MSci in Neuroscience at University College London, where she employed two-photon fluorescence microscopy and electrophysiological techniques to investigate astrocyte physiology. Her research interests focus on the role of glial cells, such as astrocytes, in nervous system function. As a BBSRC-funded DTP PhD student on the London Interdisciplinary Doctoral Programme, Lily is joining the lab for her first rotation period to explore the evolution and development of glia in the annelid Owenia fusiformis.

E-mail: