Current Group Members
Dr. Javid A. Malla
PDRA
Javid received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the Aligarh Muslim University India in 2012, followed by a master’s degree from the same university in 2014 with organic chemistry as the specialisation. He then moved to the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune for his PhD where he worked with Prof. Pinaki Talukdar. His PhD work focussed on supramolecular approaches to the design of artificial ion channels and their implications in cellular systems. After finishing his PhD, he worked for one year as a research associate in the Talukdar Group, before joining the McTernan Group at the Francis Crick Institute in September 2021. His research interests include design of transmembrane machines using concepts of organic and systems chemistry, aimed towards synthetic cell development. Furthermore, he is interested in development of new therapeutic modalities with focus on supramolecular PROTACs.
Dr. Leah White
PDRA
Leah received her undergraduate degree (MChem) from the University of Bath in 2018, during which time she undertook an industrial placement year at the Future Industries Institute, South Australia. She stayed in Bath to carry out her PhD under the supervision of Dr Dan Pantoș and Dr Dave Carbery where she worked on the synthesis of helically chiral molecules and their applications within biological settings. She joined the McTernan group at the Francis Crick Institute in December 2022 where she is working on the development metal-peptidic cages.
Dr. Zhe Li
SLRS
Zhe received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Xiamen University in 2016. He undertook his PhD in Xiamen University (Prof. Cheng Wang’s lab) and the University of Chicago (Prof. Wenbin Lin’s lab), exploring the development of functionalised Metal-Organic Frameworks. These were used for organometallic catalysis, photocatalysis and solid-gas phase catalysis. After completing his PhD degree, he completed a one-year postdoctoral research associate position at Xiamen University, before joining the McTernan Group. His research interests involve developing metal-organic capsules for guest binding and drug release.
Research Staff
Dr. Adinarayana Bellamkonda
PDRA
Adinarayana Bellamkonda received his Master’s degree in Organic Chemistry from the Acharya Nagarjuna University, India in 2010. He completed PhD degree in the year of 2017 in NISER, India, under Prof. A. Srinivasan. His PhD research was focused on the synthetic, structural and photophysical properties of functional models of porphyrin analogues including core modified contracted and expanded porphyrin structures. After finishing his PhD, he got JSPS postdoctoral fellowship, and joined under Prof. Atsuhiro Osuka at Kyoto University, Japan in 2017. After successful completion of the JSPS fellowship, in 2020 he moved to the University of Cambridge worked as a postdoctoral scientist in the research field of Supramolecular chemistry under Prof. Jonathan Nitschke. After 1 year stay at Cambridge, he awarded Marie Curie fellowship and moved to Imperial College London and worked in Chemical biology filed under Prof. Ramon Vilar. He then Joined McTernan Group at the Francis Crick Institute in Feb 2023.
Dr. Aisha N. Bismallah
Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 – Ramsay Memorial Trust Research Fellow
Aisha obtained her MChem degree from the University of Central Lancashire, also completing three undergraduate research placements, one of which was in the USA. Following a summer in industry with Veolia, she joined the laboratory of Prof. Paul McGonigal at Durham University, gaining her PhD degree in 2020 with a focus on ‘shapeshifting’ systems. During her PhD studies, Aisha completed a placement with Prof. Surya Prakash at the University of Southern California. She was subsequently awarded a US–UK All Disciplines Fulbright Scholarship to join Prof. Ivan Aprahamian’s laboratory at Darthmouth College, USA where she worked on coupling synthetic negative feedback loops with hydrazone switches. She then return to the McGonigal group at the University of York as a Leverhulme PDRA. Aisha joined the McTernan group as an 1851–Ramsay research Fellow based at the Francis Crick Institute as well as King’s College London in October 2024.
Dr. Siu C. Chang
Postdoctoral Project Research Scientist
Chung received his undergraduate degree in Applied Chemistry from City University of Hong Kong in 2010, followed by a PhD in Chemistry from the same institution in 2014 under the supervision of Dr. Chun-Yuen Wong. His doctoral research focused on investigating the redox and electronic properties of d⁶ transition metal complexes supported by redox-active ligands. He then joined Dr. Jason England’s group at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore as a Postdoctoral Fellow, working parallelly on bioinorganic chemistry of copper-based oxygenases and carbon(0) organometallic chemistry, both employing advanced spectroscopic techniques. In 2018, he returned to CityU as a Senior Research Associate, establishing a new research line on alkyne cyclisation using first-row transition metals. In 2021, he joined Prof. Miquel Costas’s group at the University of Girona in Spain to work on biologically inspired asymmetric C–H functionalisation catalysis. Since April 2025, Chung has been a Postdoctoral Project Research Scientist in the McTernan Group at the Francis Crick Institute
Ben E. Barber
PhD Student
Ben obtained an MSci from the University of Cambridge, completing a final year project with Prof. Jonathan Nitschke. He joined the McTernan group as a PhD student in 2021, and his research focuses on synthesis of metal-peptidic assemblies, with an aim to develop new chemical biology tools and therapeutics.
Karen Junghans
PhD Student
Karen received her undergraduate and master’s degrees in Chemistry from Leipzig University, Germany. During her studies she developed a strong interest in organic and inorganic chemistry interfacing for applications in medicine, which led her to undertake research internships with Dr Gilles Gasser, Prof Dr Evamarie Hey-Hawkins and Dr Rama Suntharalingam. During her time in the McTernan group she will delve further into supramolecular chemistry, exploring amino-acid-functionalised guest binders potentially enabling specific, and chiral, molecular recognition.
Sam I. Fidler
PhD Student
Sam received an MChem from Durham University, completing a final year project with Dr. Matthew Kitching on chiral nitrogen compounds. He joined the McTernan Group in 2022, and his research focuses on synthesis of macrocycles with high affinities for drugs, metabolites and biological macromolecules for use in vivo.
PhD Students
Michael J. O'Sullivan
PhD Student
Michael received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry (MChem) from the University of York in 2022, having completed his final year in industry at Sosei Heptares (now Nxera Pharma). His project involved the design, synthesis and analysis of target compounds for an early-stage Medicinal Chemistry project. He joined the McTernan Group in 2022, and his current research focuses on employing Supramolecular Chemistry to develop new technologies for the discovery of targeted protein degraders, as well as assay development for screening novel high affinity binders.
Kharina Fenton
Visiting PhD Student
Kharina received her undergraduate and master’s degree in Chemistry from Cardiff University. In 2019 she undertook a placement in Australia studying 3D printable living electrodes developing an interest to combine computational chemistry alongside lab work. Her PhD will focus on engineering a new class of artificial ion channels guided by simulations. Kharina works between the Wallace, Ulmschneider and McTernan Groups.
Nick Gallagher
PhD Student
Nick received his undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences (MSci) from the University of Cambridge in 2021. His final year project with Prof. Michele Vendruscolo investigated the effects of PTMs on the stability of the tau-microtubule interaction. After graduation Nick worked as a Research Assistant in the Vendruscolo group, studying tau aggregation kinetics. Nick joined the McTernan group in September 2023 and works on the application of host-guest chemistry to targeted delivery of nucleic acid and mass-spectrometry proteomics.
Laia Cano
PhD Student
Laia received her Undergraduate Degree in Organic Chemistry (MSc) from the University of Copenhagen (2023), where she worked with Professor Michael Pittelkow to study the synthesis and characterization of thiosemicarbazones as a photoswitchable moiety. She joined the McTernan group at the Crick in September 2023. Her PhD will focus on the development of macrocyclic anionic binders for the sequence specific recognition of proteins.
Tom Jepras
PhD Student
Tom completed his integrated master’s degree at the University of Nottingham in July 2024. During which, he spent a year in industry at Upperton Pharma Solutions, developing formulations for active pharmaceutical ingredients. His placement inspired his decision to pursue a master’s research project with Dr. Vincenzo Taresco, focusing on biodegradable polyesters as nanocarriers for novel drug delivery systems. Inspired by the potential of supramolecular assemblies for biomedical applications, Tom joined the McTernan group in October 2024 where he is now working on the development of metal-peptidic cages as biocatalysts and exploring systems to control transport across cell membranes.
Past Group Members
Dr. Ellen. M. G. Jamieson
Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2021-2025)
Ellen received her undergraduate degree from the University of St Andrews (MChem) before joining the Goldup Lab at the University of Southampton for her PhD. There she worked with mechanically interlocked molecules, specifically on unusual chirality and unexpected reactivity, influenced by the mechanical bond. After finishing her PhD she was awarded an EPSRC postdoctoral prize fellowship in the Goldup lab before joining the McTernan group in the Crick in July 2021 until April 2025. While in the McTernan group she worked on Peptidic interlocked molecules, Metal-Peptidic Cages and on high affinity binders.