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Learn From Our Experts

A photo of Dr Elena De Vita, Lecturer in Synthetic Biology & Biotechnology at SBBS

Dr Elena De Vita

Elena graduated in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technologies in the Department of Pharmacy at University of Pisa in 2014. Her Master’s thesis reported the development of novel carboxylic acid-based inhibitors of Matrix metalloproteases (Prof Armando Rossello). She then joined the Cancer Drug Development group at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ, Heidelberg) as a DKFZ-MOST funded PhD student (German-Israeli collaboration). Her dissertation focused on the development of covalent inhibitors of a secreted serine protease (KLK6) under the supervision of Dr Aubry Miller.

Following a short EMBO-funded visit to Imperial College, Elena joined the Tate group as a CRUK Research associate to work on the development of covalent inhibitors for the small GTPase Rab27A. She continued this work as a Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellow from 2020 and successively as a Co-investigator funded by Worldwide Cancer Research (2022). In 2021, Elena participated in the winning team at the Merck Innovation Cup and in 2022 she was shortlisted for the L’Oréal-UNESCO UK For Women In Science programme.

Elena joined the Department of Biochemistry at QMUL in September 2023 as a Lecturer in Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology. Her research interests focus on covalent ligand discovery and development and novel pharmacological modalities for use in Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery.

Find out more about Elena's research expertise, teaching and overall work within the programme, in this conversation our programme director, Dr Ewan Main:

 

Dr Lin Su

Dr Lin Su is a Lecturer in Engineering Biology and leads an independent research group. His group focuses on the engineering of biohybrid systems within the domain of Synthetic/Engineering Biology. A significant aspect of this research involves the detailed study of electron transfer mechanisms at the interfaces between microorganisms and (nano)materials. The ultimate aims of this work include the development of innovative bioelectrical communication systems and advancements in artificial photosynthesis.

He was awarded his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Southeast University in 2021. During his doctoral research, conducted within Professor Degang Fu’s laboratory, Dr Su concentrated on engineering electron transfer at the interfaces of microorganisms and various materials. His doctoral studies were complemented by research visits to Professor Caroline Ajo-Franklin’s laboratory, initially at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and subsequently at Rice University, where he engaged with synthetic biology research between 2016 and 2021. Following the completion of his PhD, Dr Su joined the University of Cambridge as a Research Associate in Professor Erwin Reisner’s group in 2021. He was subsequently awarded a prestigious Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship, tenable from 2022 to 2025 and match-funded by an Isaac Newton Trust Grant. Concurrently, he became a Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College at the University of Cambridge.

Here you can see our programme director, Dr Ewan Main, in conversation with Dr Lin Su, discussing his research, his teaching and the career prospects for those who complete the MSc Biotechnology:

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