Meet the team
Dr Matt Hutchings
Senior Lecturer in Microbiology & Director of Enterprise
I am a member of Faculty in the School of Biological Sciences at UEA and also Director of Enterprise and Theme Leader for Molecules and Pathways, one of three research themes in the School. My research interests include understanding and bypassing antibiotic resistance in bacteria and understanding how eukaryotic hosts assemble complex and beneficial microbiomes, the communities of bacteria that live on and inside plants and animals.
Email: M.Hutchings@uea.ac.uk
Christina Stratford
Former Website and Social Media Co-ordinator
I successfully obtained my PhD in September 2014, and I’ve now moved back to London to pursue job opportunities in science communication and public engagement. As a member of the Enterprise & Engagement Club, I was glad to form part of a dynamic team which promoted the wider applications of scientific research outside the academic environment. I am hopeful that this experience, coupled with the rigorous training of a research degree, will stand me in good stead to secure a position within the voluntary sector.
Email: c.stratford@uea.ac.uk
Dr Samuel Fountain
Lecturer in Pharmacology & Director of Employability
I am a Lecturer in Pharmacology and Director of Employability in the School of Biological Sciences. I am also a BBSRC Regional Schools Champion and holds a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship personal award. Research in my lab focuses on cell signalling events in health and disease of the cardiovascular system, specifically triggers and response to vascular damage and inflammation.
Email: s.j.fountain@uea.ac.uk
John Munnoch
Vice Club President
I'm currently a final year PhD student at UEA, studying various aspects of growth and regulation in Streptomyces, soil-dwelling organisms important for antibiotic discovery and production. One of my major focuses, during my PhD, has been to investigate the Rrf2 super-family of proteins in Streptomyces. Following my enjoyable tenure as club president I have passed this role to Saannya and taken up the vice-presidency role. I originally joined the club to get involved in the organisation and running of various events in and around BIO including the iGEM project, BiotechYES and iTEAMS and have found the experience incredibly rewarding.
Email: J.Munnoch@uea.ac.uk
Eileen Gallagher
Former Engagement co-ordinator
Since completing my plant genetics PhD I have started the clinical scientist training programme to become a healthcare professional in the field of genomics. I am currently carrying out my training at the University of Oxford NHS Hospital Trust, and will hopefully be fully qualified in three years. The training I got from my PhD in not only subject area and the research, but also the numerous opportunities for engagement and enterprise are extremely important for my current position. Communication with a range of healthcare specialist from clinicians to counsellors is a daily activity, alongside finding new and interesting ways to improve the efficiency and quality of the work carried out within the department.
Email: E.Gallagher@uea.ac.uk
Nicolle Som
Club president and Website and Social Media Co-ordinator
I am a third year DTP PhD student and work on the cell biology of the antibiotic producing filamentous Streptomyces and my project focuses on regulation of cell devision. I am involved in the Enterprise and Engagment club because I think it is very important to interact with businesses and the public to make the science at UEA more widely accessible.
Email: N.Som@uea.ac.uk
Hannah Wells
Former Treasurer
I am in the 4th year of my PhD in Biomedical Sciences at UEA, investigating how the human pathogen Salmonella survives the stresses inflicted upon it from host and non-host environments. The outreach and engagement aspects of the E&E Club were my main areas of interest and I regularly represented my lab group at Open Days and public engagement events across the Norwich Research Park. Following attendance at a Sense About Science 'Standing Up For Science' Media Workshop, and as a member of Voice of Young Science (VoYS), I hoped to encourage early career scientists to improve their communications of science with the wider non-scientific community. Once my PhD is complete I start my training as an NHS Clinical Scientist in Microbiology.
Email: Hannah.Wells@uea.ac.uk
Saannya Sequeira
PhD student
I am a third year PhD student specialising in recombinant protein purification for structural biology studies. I also work casually under UEA's Recruitment and Outreach department as a Student Ambassador. I am keen about science and it's impact beyond academia, be it towards public awareness or commercially, and this beckoned me to get involved with the E and E club
Dr Richard Bowater
Senior Lecturer
I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at UEA, and was appointed School Director of Enterprise at the start of 2014. My research is conducted within the Centre for Molecular and Structural Biochemistry and focuses on biochemical and genetic analysis of essential DNA repair pathways in model systems. I am keen to develop interdisciplinary activities that cross the arts and sciences interface and regularly collaborate with colleagues from the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at UEA. Since 2011 I have been the primary academic Adviser for the UEA iGEM teams in a competition for university students that involves synthetic biology projects. In recognition of my contribution to these activities I was conferred with a Community University Engagement Project Award from UEA in summer 2013.
Email: R.Bowater@uea.ac.uk
Previous Members
Sebastian Runkel
Club President from Oct 2012 - Oct 2013
Sebastian is a final year PhD student, who has been an active member since May 2010. After completing his PhD in Microbiology, he aims to have a successful business career in a global and innovative organization that is evolving, supports personal development and where his contribution shows direct impact.
Email: s.runkel@uea.ac.uk
Dr Kay Yeoman
Senior Lecturer in Microbiology & Science Communicator
I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at UEA, where I teach microbiology and science communication. I have run school and public science communication events for many years, involving students within my projects. In 2007 I was awarded a Wellcome Trust Peoples Award for the 'Mobile Family Science Laboratory'. I was one of the co-founders of the Engagement and Enterprise Club. I am the director of UEA's School: University Partnership initiative and I recently co-authored a book; Science Communication: a practical guide for scientists, published by Wiley Blackwell.
Email: k.yeoman@uea.ac.uk
Lukas Harnisch
Enterprise co-ordinator
I am a second year PhD student at the School of Medicine at UEA and currently working at the Institute of Food Research at the NRP.My project involves the role of Bifidobacteria as a member of the gut microbiota in intestinal disease and epithelial cell shedding with focus on Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
As part of the Enterprise & Engagement Club, I hope to help students gain insight and experience outside of “the lab” as entrepreneurs, in industry or outreach.
In my opinion, these insights are invaluable to the modern researcher and will yield benefits in and outside of academia.
Email: L.Harnisch@uea.ac.uk
Sakonwan (Sue) Kuhaudomlarp
PhD student
I am a first year PhD student who has passion for scientific research that make impact to the society. I am currently working on synthetic biology of an immune stimulating sugar molecule from an algae. E & E club provides great opportunities for science students like me to learn about business and how to communicate science to public in a more effective way.
Email: S.Kuhaudomlarp@uea.ac.uk
Dr Vittoria Danino
Relationships Manager
I am a relationships manager with a love of science and a desire to see new knowledge, innovation and technology used in business and wider society. I work within the research and enterprise team at the University of East Anglia to facilitate interaction between researchers in the Faculty of Science and the business, charitable, policy and NGO communities to ensure the impact of research done at UEA is fully realised.
If you would like to speak to me about the research done in the sciences at UEA or the different ways we might be able to work together please contact me at business@uea.ac.uk
Dr. Richard Kelwick
Founding Club President Jan 2010 - Oct 2012
Richard was a PhD student in cancer biology in Professor Dylan Edwards group at the School of Biological Sciences. With a background in both enterprise and life sciences, he set out to establish a community of enterprising scientists from the school of biological sciences and the wider NRP that could network and be inspired to pursue opportunities in enterprise, entrepreneurship and science communication. In addition to be being the founding president of the E&E Club, Richard and his team successfully won the regional final of 2010 BiotechYES, and along with Dr. Richard Bowater he also founded the first iGEM teams on the NRP in 2011 and 2012. Richard is currently a postdoc in Synthetic Biology at Imperial College London.
Email: r.kelwick@gmail.com
