Kirsty McHugh

I completed my undergraduate degree in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, before working in the Callaghan Cancer Research group at the John Radcliffe Hospital investigating the structural properties of the P-glycoprotein multi-drug transporter. I then completed my DPhil studies at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine in the Arthritis Research group headed by Paul Bowness, investigating the link between HLA-B27 and Spondyloarthritis, and continued this project as a post-doc at the Botnar Research Centre. The primary focus of this research was to characterise the expression of potentially pathogenic non-conventional forms of B27 in the context of a disease setting using novel B27-specific monoclonal antibodies.

At the Jenner institute, I am currently working on the development of novel therapeutic interventions for the treatment of haematological disorders - non-transfusion-dependent thalassemia (NTDT) and anaemia of inflammation - which involves generating recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies for subsequent characterisation and functional testing.