Abigail Herbert studied for an MChem degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Leicester from 2014-2017. She spent her final year project studying the use of Ir(III) complexes as single molecule luminescent probes for the in vivo study of changes in conformational structure of biological molecules. This project was supervised by Dr Mark Lowe and Prof. Paul Cullis.
In her third year, Abi completed a sandwich placement at AstraZeneca, Macclesfield, within late stage drug development. Here she worked as an analytical scientist, supporting synthetic chemists and applications for drug approval. During this time Abi worked on the now FDA approved non-small cell lung cancer treatment Osimertinib alongside other break through status drugs.
Abi joined the Micklefield group in 2017 and is researching the use of enzymes as synthetic tools in the production of semi-synthetic antibiotics and N-methylation. Abi has experience in chemical synthesis, purification and characterisation (including HPLC, NMR, IR and MS) and looks forward to developing her skills as a biochemist.
Outside of the lab, Abi enjoys travelling and hiking.
Publications:
- Structure and Biocatalytic Scope of Coclaurine N-Methyltransferase. M. R. Bennett, M. L. Thompson, S. A. Shepherd, M. S. Dunstan, A. J. Herbert, D. R. M. Smith, V. A. Cronin, B. R. K. Menon, C. Levy & J. Micklefield Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018 in press. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201805060)