Dr Waraporn Bunnak

Waraporn received her M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry at Kasetsart University, Thailand, funded by a scholarship from the Development and Promotion of Science and Technology Talents (DPST) Project and under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pakorn Wattana-amorn. Her research focused on the biosynthetic studies of Menisporopsin A and the heterologous expression of unknown polyketide synthase genes from Menisporopsis theobromae BCC 4162. Collaborating with the University of Bristol, she conducted her Master’s research in Dr. Colin Lazarus’s lab for one year and her Ph.D. research in Prof. Paul Race’s lab for another year.

In 2020, Waraporn was a postdoctoral researcher at the National Science and Technology Development Agency in Thailand, where her project involved screening for new bioactive compounds and studying the polyketide biosynthesis pathway of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana. By 2022, she moved to a postdoctoral position in the lipid metabolism research group led by Prof. Peter Eastmond at Rothamsted Research, UK.

In 2023, Waraporn joined the Micklefield group to work on the biosynthesis and bioengineering of natural products.

Publications:

1. J. Phakeovilay, W. Imaram, S. Vuttipongchaikij, W. Bunnak, C. M. Lazarus and P. Wattana-Amorn,Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, 2022, 20, 5050-5054

2. W. Toopaang, W. Bunnak, C. Srisuksam, W. Wattananukit, M. Tanticharoen, Y.-L. Yang and A.Amnuaykanjanasin, Natural product reports, 2022, 39, 2008-2029.

3. W. Bunnak, A. J. Winter, C. M. Lazarus, M. P. Crump, P. R. Race and P. Wattana-Amorn, FEBSLetters, 2021, 595, 133-144.

4. W. Bunnak, P. Wonnapinij, A. Sriboonlert, C. M. Lazarus and P. Wattana-Amorn, Planta Medica, 2019, 85, 1446-1446.

5. W. Bunnak, P. Wonnapinij, A. Sriboonlert, C. M. Lazarus and P. Wattana-Amorn, Organic &Biomolecular Chemistry, 2019, , 374-379.