Biology

The Biology department at Queen Mary focusses on ecological, evolutionary and developmental processes, at the scale of DNA up to ecosystems. We have particular research strengths in Evolution and Development, and in Community Ecology and Ecosystems, and we teach in these areas at Foundation, BSc, MSc and PhD levels.

Research

Evolution and Development

We are working to understand the genetic, evolutionary and functional changes that underpin population structure, adaptation, development and behaviour. For this we combine a variety of methodological approaches, from high-throughput sequencing and microscopy to computer modeling.

The impact of our research includes: the conservation management of loggerhead turtles in Cape Verde; the development of policy to reduce the spread of disease in wild plants, especially of ash dieback, acute oak decline and emerald ash borer; the localization of disease hotspots that can be used to target health interventions; and the establishment of a new National Park in Tanzania.

Learn more about our sub themes Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics and Invertebrate Neurobiology and Development at the bottom of the page.

Community Ecology and Ecosystems

We study the organisation and function of ecosystems, both in terrestrial and aquatic environments. Our research covers a broad range of scales, from individuals and populations, to communities and global biogeochemical cycles. We employ multi-disciplinary approaches that include metagenomics, mass spectrometry, field ecology and theoretical modeling.

The impact of our research includes: work to measure the effectiveness of Glastir Advanced, a location-targeted, cost-effective sustainable land management scheme in Wales; development of a new UK River Invertebrate Classification Tool (RICT), now being used by the Scottish government to manage sediment pollution, and; the development of Typical Length (TyL) indicator, to underpin an “ecosystem approach” to fisheries management.

Learn more about our sub themes Animal Networks and Ecology and Invertebrate Molecular Microbial Ecology below.

Name	Position	hide Department	Department	hide Research group	Research group	Interests
Abrahams, Dr Isaac	Senior Lecturer	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	(no group)		Solid State Structural Chemistry, Ionically Conducting Solids, BIMEVOX
Arseniyadis, Dr Stellios	Reader in Organic Chemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Synthesis and Catalysis	Synthesis and Catalysis	Asymmetric catalysis - Bio-hybrid catalysis - C-H activation - Synthetic methodology development - Natural product synthesis
Barros, Dr Mario Dos Reis	Lecturer	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	(no group)		Computational biology, Evolution, Molecular evolution, Phylogenetics, Population genetics
Bessant, Prof. Conrad	Professor of Bioinformatics	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Bioinformatics, Proteomics, Metabolomics, Software Development, Data Integration
Beyer, Dr Frederike	Lecturer in Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology			Cognitive neuroscience, Social cognition, Sense of agency, Emotional reactivity
Bray, Dr Christopher	Senior Lecturer	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Synthesis and Catalysis		Organic Chemistry, Total Synthesis, Synthetic Methodology
Brennan, Dr Caroline	Reader in Molecular Genetics	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Neurobiology and Behaviour	Neurobiology and Behaviour	Genetics and Psychiatric Disease, Biology and Motivated Behaviours, Cognition, Attention
Buggs, Dr Richard	Professor of Evolutionary Genomics	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	Evolution and Genetics	Evolution and Genetics	Tree, Genomics, Ash Dieback, Evolution, Ecology, Genetics
Cambeiro, Dr Xacobe	Lecturer in Organic Chemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Synthesis and Catalysis		Sustainable chemistry, Photoredox, Iron, reductive couplings, Base metal catalysis
Caudron, Dr Fabrice	Lecturer in Microbiology	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology			Asymmetric cell division, Mnemon/prion, protein aggregation, Cellular memory, Yeast genetics
Chass, Dr Gregory	Reader in Physical and Theoretical Chemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Physical and Theoretical Chemistry	Physical and Theoretical Chemistry	Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Theoretical Chemistry
Chittka, Prof Lars	Professor of Sensory and Behavioural Ecology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological Psychology + Neurobiology and Behaviour	Biological Psychology Neurobiology and Behaviour	Sensory Systems, Comparative Cognition, Insect Learning and Memory, Animal Navigation
Clare, Dr Elizabeth	Senior Lecturer	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	Evolution and Genetics	Evolution and Genetics	Ecological Genomics, Molecular Food Webs, Bats, Mammals, Systematics, Species Interactions
Clyne, Dr Rosemary	Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences	Cell and Molecular Biology		(no group)		Biomedical Science, Cell Division, Cell Cycle, Genetics, Enzymes
Crespo-Otero, Dr Rachel	Lecturer in Computational Chemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	(no group)		Computational Chemistry, Excited States, Photochemistry, Non-adiabatic Dynamics
Darbari, Dr Vidya	Lecturer in Structural Biology	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	(no group)		X-ray, Crystallography, Electron microscopy, Protein-protein interaction, Ribonucleoprotein complex, Gene regulation
De Falco, Dr Giulia	Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences (Microbiology)	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	(no group)		Viruses, microRNAs, Cancer, Gene Expression
Dennis, Dr Jayne	Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	(no group)		Genomics, Cancer, Precision Medicine, Biomedical Science, Gene Expression
Devis, Dr Di Tommaso	Lecturer	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Physical and Theoretical Chemistry	Physical and Theoretical Chemistry	Computational Chemistry, Density Functional Theory, Molecular Dynamics, Polymorphism, Crystal Nucleation
Di Bernardi Luft, Dr Caroline	Lecturer in Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	(no group)		Advanced EEG/fMRI methods - Learning - Creativity - Psychophysiology - Transcranial current brain simulation
Draviam-Sastry, Dr Viji	Reader (Associate Professor)	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	(no group)		Video Microscopy - Cell division - Cancer Biology - Aneuploidy - Human cell biology
Duffy, Dr Christopher	Lecturer in Cellular and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Light-harvesting, Photosynthesis, Computational Biology, Molecular physics, Xanthophylls
Eilola, Dr Tiina	Senior Lecturer (Psychology)	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological Psychology	Biological Psychology	Bilingualism, Emotions, Attention, Word Recognition
Eizaguirre, Dr Christophe	Reader	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	Aquatic Ecology + Evolution and Genetics	Aquatic Ecology Evolution and Genetics	Aquatic Ecology, Climate Change, Conservation Genetics, Evolutionary Ecology, Fish, Marine Turtles
Elphick, Prof Maurice	Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	Evolution and Genetics + Neurobiology and Behaviour	Evolution and Genetics	Physiology, Neuroscience, Evolution, Neuropeptide, Echinoderm, Cannabinoid
Engl, Dr Christoph	Lecturer in Microbiology	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	(no group)		Molecular cell biology, Bacterial adaptation, Ribosome function, Bacterial plant-growth promotion, Single-cell & single-molecule imaging
Emery, Dr Nathan	Senior Lecturer	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological Psychology + Neurobiology and Behaviour	Biological Psychology Neurobiology and Behaviour	Animal Cognition, Creativity, Innovative Problem-Solving, Gaze Following
Eyice-Broadbent, Dr Ozge	Lecturer in Molecular Microbial Ecology	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	(no group)		Microbial ecology - Biogeochemistry - Ecosystem function - Microbial diversity
Ezcurra, Dr Marina	Lecturer in Neurobiology	Cell and Molecular Biology		Neurobiology and Behaviour		Microbiota, ageing, behavior, neural circuits, C. elegans
Faulkes, Dr Chris	Reader in Evolutionary Ecology	Organismal Biology		Evolution and Genetics + Neurobiology and Behaviour	Neurobiology and Behaviour	African Mole-rats, Naked Mole-rat, Social Evolution, Comparative Sociogenomics, Rodent Phylogeography, Social suppression of reproduction
Faulkner, Dr Sally	Lecturer	Organismal Biology				conservation biology, wildlife crime, human-wildlife conflict, the illegal wildlife trade
Foka, Dr Sevasti	Lecturer in Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	(no group)		Work and Organizational Psychology, Mindfulness, Positive Psychology, Wellbeing
Fornili, Dr Arianna	Lecturer in Computational Organic Chemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis + Physical and Theoretical Chemistry	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis Physical and Theoretical Chemistry	Computational Chemistry, Molecular Dynamics, Protein Conformational Changes, Cardiac Muscle, Molecular Modelling
Frantz, Dr Laurent	Lecturer in Molecular Genetics/Infomatics	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	Evolution and Genetics	Evolution and Genetics	Evolution, Genetics, Speciation, Domestication
Garnett, Dr James	Early Career Researcher	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	(no group)		Xray Crystallography, NMR, Molecular Microbiology, Secretion Systems, Biofilms
Giordano, Dr Cristina	Reader in Chemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	(no group)		Metallic ceramics - Nanostructures - Metal nitrides - Carbides
Hanke, Dr Guy	Senior Lecturer in Plant Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology		(no group)		Photosynthesis, Electron transport, Protein-protein interaction, Cell biology, Synthetic biology
Hannon, Dr Emily	Lecturer in Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology		(no group)		Cognitive Neuroscience, Attention/Inattention, Perception, Memory
Heathcote, Prof Peter	Professor of Biochemistry	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Photosynthesis, Respiratory Chain Complexes, Tetrapyrrole Biosynthesis, Electron Transfer
Henry, Dr Lee	Senior Lecturer	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	(no group)		Bacterial symbiosis, Insect ecology and evolution, Evolutionary genetics, Molecular evolution, Adaptation, Microbial ecology
Hone, Dr David	Senior Lecturer	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	(no group)		Fossils, Paleontology, Ecology, Behaviour, Sexual Selection, Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs, Archosaurs, Predator-Prey Interactions, Body Size
Howell, Dr Lesley	Senior Lecturer	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Synthesis and Catalysis		Protein-proetin and protein-DNA interactions, GPCRs, Solid-phase peptide synthesis, Organic synthesis
Hurd, Dr Paul	Senior Lecturer in Epigenetics	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	Neurobiology and Behaviour	Neurobiology and Behaviour	Epigenetics, Genetics, Genomics, Phenotype, Environment
Janes, Dr Bob	Senior Lecturer	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Structure-function, Polypeptide Toxins, Bioinformatics, 2struc, PCDDB, SRCD Spectroscopy, Circular Dichroism
Jones, Dr Chris	Senior Lecturer	Chemistry and Biochemistry		Synthesis and Catalysis	Synthesis and Catalysis	Organic Synthesis, Methodology, Catalysis, Reactive Intermediates, C-H functionalisation
J Iwan, Dr Jones	Head of the River Communities Group	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	(no group)		Freshwater Ecology, Community Structure, Food Webs, Invertabrates, Algae, Plants
Jones, Dr Janelle	Lecturer	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological Psychology + Neurobiology and Behaviour	Biological Psychology Neurobiology and Behaviour	Identity, Social Connections, Resilience, Health and Wellbeing, Stigma
Knell, Dr Rob	Reader in Evolutionary Ecology	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	Evolution and Genetics	Evolution and Genetics	Ecology, Evolution, Infectious Disease, Parasite, Immunity, Sexual Selection
Kratina, Dr Pavel	Lecturer in Aquatic Ecology	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	Aquatic Ecology	Aquatic Ecology	Aquatic Ecology, Food Webs, Climate Change, Ecosystem Function, Conservation, Evolutionary Ecology
Lachlan, Dr Robert	Lecturer in Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological Psychology + Neurobiology and Behaviour	Biological Psychology Neurobiology and Behaviour	Animal Communication, Cultural Evolution, Birdsong, Bioacoustics, Social Learning
Lebrasseur, Dr Nathalie	Senior Lecturer	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	(no group)		Organic Chemistry, Synthesis, Flow Chemistry, Hypervalent Iodine Reagents
Leitch, Prof. Andrew	Professor of Plant Genetics	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	Evolution and Genetics	Evolution and Genetics	Polyploidy, Cytogenetics, Plant Genomics, Stoichiogenomics, Nicotiana, Ecology, Evolution
Littlefair, Dr Joanne	Lecturer in Biological Sciences	Organismal Biology		(no group)		Bioinformatics, Genetics, Ecology
Maconochie, Dr Mark	Reader in Biomedical Sciences	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	(no group)		Genetics, Biochemistry, Biomedical Science
Main, Dr Ewan	Lecturer	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Biochemistry, Molecular Biophysics, Repeat Proteins, Protein Folding
Mareschal, Dr Isabelle	Senior Lecturer in Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological Psychology + Neurobiology and Behaviour	Biological Psychology Neurobiology and Behaviour	Gaze, Human Perception, Attention, Social Neuroscience
Martin, Dr Chema	Lecturer in Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology
Michael, Dr Tony	Professor in Reproductive Biology	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	(no group)		Reproduction, Steroid Biochemistry, Endocrine, Cortisol
Mullineaux, Prof Conrad	Professor of Microbiology, Head of Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Photosynthesis, Electron Transport, Cyanobacteria, Fluorescence Imaging, Membrane Dynamics, Bacterial Cell Biology
Nielsen, Dr Christian	Academic Fellow	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	(no group)		Organic electronics, Organic bioelectronics, Semiconducting polymers, Materials chemistry
Nichols, Prof Richard	Professor of Evolutionary Genetics	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	Evolution and Genetics	Evolution and Genetics	Genetics, Evolution, Virology, Genomics
Osman, Dr Magda	Reader in Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Neurobiology and Behaviour		Decision Making, Agency and Control, Unconscious Processes, Parksinson's Disease
Pachol, Dr Anna	Lecturer in Maths					Quantum gravity, Quantum space-times, Hopf algebroids, noncommunitive geometry
Palacios, Dr Isabel	Lecturer in Cell Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology		(no group)
Palma, Dr Matteo	Reader in Nanoscience	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	(no group)		Nanotechnology, Single-molecule, Molecular Electronics, Supramolecular, Nanobiotechnology, Materials
Paredes, Dr Ursula	Lecturer in Neurobiology and Genetics	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology
Pettit, Dr Sophie	Lecturer in Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology			Mental health, Psychiatric care, Psychological therapy, Age factors
Pickersgill, Prof Richard	Professor of Structural Biology, Head of School	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Structural Biology, Protein Crystallography, Synthetic Biology, Enzymes, Cobalamin, Biosynthesis, Bacterial Microcompartments
Pluess, Dr Michael	Professor of Developmental Psychology, Head of Biological and Experimental Psychology department	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological Psychology + Neurobiology and Behaviour	Biological Psychology Neurobiology and Behaviour	Environmental Sensitivity, Positive Development, Resilience, Health and Wellbeing, Behaviour Genetics
Preece, Dr Mark	Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	Neurobiology and Behaviour	Neurobiology and Behaviour	Psychopharmacology, Neuropharmacology, fMRI, Brain Imaging
Resmini, Prof Marina	Professor of Materials Chemistry, Head of Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	(no group)		Biomimetic Systems, Artificial Receptors, Catalysis, Synthesis, Molecular Imprinting
Roessler, Dr Maxie	Senior Lecturer in Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Physical and Theoretical Chemistry + Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Spectroscopy, Metalloproteins, Electrochemistry, EPR, Respiratory Enzymes, Mitochondria
Rossberg, Dr Axel	Reader in Theoretical Ecology	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	(no group)		Aquatic - ecology - Biodiversity - Community structure - Food webs - Conservation - Spatial patterns - Mathematical models
Rossiter, Prof Stephen	Professor, Head of Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	Evolution and Genetics	Evolution and Genetics	Evolution, Ecology, Genomics, Genetics, Mammals, Bats
Ruban, Prof. Alexander	Professor in Biophysics	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis	Photosynthesis, Light Harvesting, Light Adaptation Memory, Structural Dynamics, Genetics
Schofield, Dr Gail	Lecturer in Aquatic Ecology	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology
Sheriff, Dr Tippu	Senior Lecturer	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	(no group)		Organic Synthesis, Small Molecule Activation, Catalysis, Novel Manganese Complexes
Stieglitz, Dr Ben	Lecturer in Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	(no group)		Ubiquitin - Host-pathogen interaction - Anti-microbial resistance - Structural biology - Enzymology
Stollewerk, Dr Angelika	Reader in Evolutionary Developmental Biology	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	Evolution and Genetics + Neurobiology and Behaviour	Evolution and Genetics Neurobiology and Behaviour	Neurobiology, Evolution, Arthropods, Neurogenesis, Neural Precursor Identity
Subramanian, Dr Lakxmi	Lecturer in Biochemistry/Physiology	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	(no group)		Centromeres, Chromatin, Chromosome Segregation, Kinetochores, Yeast Genetics
Szulgit, Dr Greg	Senior Lecturer in Physiology and Biomedical Science	Cell and Molecular Biology		(no group)		Collagen, Mutable collagenous tissues , Echinoderms, Pedagogy, Keloids
Thorpe, Dr Peter	Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry			Yeast genetics, Genomics, Chromosome segregation, Kinetochores
Trimmer, Prof Mark	Professor of Biogeochemistry	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	Aquatic Ecology	Aquatic Ecology	Aquatic Ecology, Climate Change, Stable Isotopes, Ecosystem Function, Marine, Biochemistry
Versace, Dr Elisabetta	Lecturer in Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological Psychology + Neurobiology and Behaviour	Biological Psychology Neurobiology and Behaviour	Animal Cognition, Comparative Psychology, Artificial Grammar Learning, Lateralisation
Viles, Dr John	Reader in Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis + Neurobiology and Behaviour	Structural Biology and Photosynthesis Neurobiology and Behaviour	Protein Misfolding, Neurodegeneration, Alzheimers, Prions, Spectroscopy, Biochemistry
Vlcek, Prof Tony	Professor of Inorganic Chemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Physical and Theoretical Chemistry	Physical and Theoretical Chemistry	Transition-metal Chemistry, Photophysics, Photochemistry, Time-resolved Spectroscopy, Excited States, Photocatalysis, Solar Fuels, Electron Transfer, Metalloproteins
Vlemincx, Dr Elke	Lecturer in Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	Biological and Experimental Psychology	(no group)		Psychophysiology, Respiration, Interoception, Positive emotions, Relaxation, Stress regulation, Emotion regulation, Cognitive flexibility
Wilkinson, Dr Shane	Senior Lecturer	Cell and Molecular Biology	Cell and Molecular Biology	(no group)		Trypanosoma, Leishmania, Drug Development, Bioreductive Prodrugs, Drug Resistance
Wurm, Dr Yannick	Senior Lecturer in Bioinformatics	Organismal Biology	Organismal Biology	Evolution and Genetics + Neurobiology and Behaviour	Evolution and Genetics Neurobiology and Behaviour	Ants, Genomics, Evolution, Sociality, Behaviour
Wyatt, Dr Peter	Senior Lecturer	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Synthesis and Catalysis	Synthesis and Catalysis	Organic Synthesis, Amino acids, Luminescent Materials
Zarbakhsh, Dr Ali	Senior Lecturer	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Chemistry and Biochemistry	(no group)		Interfaces, Surfactants, Membrane Transport, Biosensors, Scattering