Summer 2025 Interns Enrich Research at the Centre for Programmable Biological Matter
The Centre for Programmable Biological Matter remains deeply committed to training the next generation of scientists. Each summer, we welcome a cohort of enthusiastic interns who bring fresh perspectives and energy to our research environment. This year, we’ve been fortunate to host a diverse group of students from various academic levels and institutions, all eager to gain hands-on experience in cutting-edge biological research.
Among our summer interns are Alex Papas and Emily Pigram, both MDS students supervised by Dr. Jonathon Liston, who have been primarily engaged in computational work related to the phylogeny of TRAP proteins and pipeline development. Also joining us are Erkal Beyza, Congyu Sun, Hanchate Vaibhav, and Zheyu Wang, MDS students supervised by Dr. Jonathon Liston and Assistant Professor Ting-Yu Lin. Their work focuses on machine learning for RNA modification, specifically learning the underlying mechanisms using data analysis.
We are especially honoured to host Yong-Han Su from National Taiwan University, who is visiting us through a fellowship grant [Graduate students’ study abroad program by Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan)] until June 2026. Under the supervision of Assistant Professor Ting-Yu Lin, Yong-Han is gaining valuable lab experience in RNA research as a part of her PhD project.
Jana Reynolds, second-year Biochemistry student, spent time shadowing and conducting lab work in our Gyrase research area with Dr. Samantha Firth. Similarly, Amy Sewell, supervised by Dr. Jonathon Liston and Dr. Zuza Pakosz-Stępień, gained experience by shadowing our two PDRAs.
Ziyi Qian and Angel Obinna-Uzoh, are both Durham Bioscience student supervised by Assistant Professor Ting-Yu Lin with support from Yasmin Stone and Yong-Han Su, spent six weeks with us gaining lab experience through Bioscience Department summer internship program. Musa Sannan, a third-year Durham student, was awarded a project funding bursary from the college of St Hild and St Bede assist Dr. Tom Bradford with work on the DNA nanomachine project for 4 weeks, while Yining Bai, also a Durham Bioscience undergraduate, shadowed Dr. Zuza Pakosz- Stępień.
Our outreach also extended to younger students, including Olivia Worrall, an A-Level student who spent a week shadowing Dr. Olivia Gittins to explore future academic paths—a fantastic way to gain on-the-job insight.
We also welcomed Bartłomiej Świderski, a master’s student from Jagiellonian University in Poland, who will spend two months working on a project under the supervision of Dr. Piotr Stępień.
From Teesside University, Lucy Butler is collaborating with us for six weeks under the guidance of Assistant Professor Adam Bentham, strengthening ties between our institutions.
Additionally, we are hosting three MBiol students: Daniel Garth and Lilianna Garcia, supervised by Professor Jonathan Heddle, are working on TRAP-related research, while Hugh Hasley, supervised by Assistant Professor Ting-Yu Lin, is contributing to our Gyrase studies.
We are incredibly proud of the work our interns have accomplished and grateful for the energy and curiosity they bring to the Centre. We hope each of them has gained – and will continue to gain – the experience they were hoping for as they take the next steps in their scientific journeys.
