Catherine graduated with a MBiochem intergrated master’s degree from the University of York in 2017. While studying, she had a year in industry placement at Croda International in 2014-2015 where she specialised in MALDI-MS and analysed Croda products using this technique and was involved in method development. During her time at York, her masters project, under Dr. Alison Parkin, researched laccase enzymes and attempted to use these enzymes in spirocyclisation reactions with Dr. Will Unsworth. Catherine gained skills in protein expression and purification along with developing enzyme assays.
Catherine’s PhD project in the Micklefield group is to further the understanding of the avermectin PKS by characterisation of some of the post-PKS modification enzymes and swapping of domains within that PKS in order to generate novel avermectin compounds.
Outside of the lab Catherine enjoys watching/playing rugby league, baking and going to the gym.