People

Principal Investigators

Dr Julie Aspden (she/her)

Dr Julie Aspden is the Principal Investigator of RiboCode and contributes to all themes, with an emphasis on Theme 2 (mRNA translation) and Theme 1 (evolutionary genomics). She is an Associate Professor in RNA Biology at the University of Leeds and has 20 years’ experience working on various aspects of RNA biology.

Dr Juan Fontana (he/him)

Dr Juan Fontana is a Senior Research Scientist (Investigador Científico) at the Basque Centre for Biophysics (Biofisika), CSIC, Spain, and leads Theme 3 (structure of specialised ribosomes). He is also part of the RiboCode outreach team. Juan has over 15 years’ experience employing cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to unravel the structure of viruses and macromolecules.

professor mary o’connell (she/her)

Professor Mary O’Connell is Professor of Zoology at the University of Manchester and leads Theme 1 (evolutionary genomics). She is also part of the IDEA working group. Mary has 25 years’ experience in comparative genomics and phylogenomics, mechanisms of protein evolution, regulatory network evolution and evolutionary theory.

professor paolo actis (he/him)

Professor Paolo Actis is an Associate Professor in Bionanotechnology at the University of Leeds and leads Theme 4 (transformative technologies) as well as the industry working group within RiboCode. He has nearly 20 years’ experience working with biologists and physicians to understand the deepest differences between healthy and diseased cells.

dr emma thomson (she/her)

Dr Emma Thomson is a lecturer at the University of Sheffield and has almost 20 years’ experience of investigating ribosomes and how they are synthesised. Emma leads Theme 2 (mRNA translation) and also contributes to Theme 3 (structure of specialised ribosomes). She is also part of the research culture working group within RiboCode.

Dr anton calabrese (he/him)

Dr Anton Calabrese is a Sir Henry Dale Fellow and University Academic Fellow in Biological Mass Spectrometry at the University of Leeds. Anton works on Theme 3 (structure of specialised ribosomes) and Theme 4 (transformative technologies), as well as leading the RiboCode sustainability focus group. He has 15 years’ experience developing and deploying mass spectrometry-based methods to study protein structure and function.

Professor Ade Whitehouse (HE/HIM)

Professor Ade Whitehouse is a Professor of Molecular Virology at the University of Leeds with over 30 years’ research experience. He contributes to Theme 2 (mRNA translation).

dr chris west (he/him)

Dr Chris West is a senior lecturer at the University of Leeds and has more than 25 years’ experience of plant molecular biology. Chris contributes to Theme 2 (mRNA translation) and RiboCode’s impact focus group.

Postdoctoral Researchers

Dr Karl Norris (he/him)

Dr Karl Norris is postdoctoral researcher at the University of Leeds whose work forms part of Theme 2 (mRNA translation). He also contributes to RiboCode’s ECR career development work.

Dr Alan Beavan (he/him)

Dr Alan Beavan is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Manchester. He works on Theme 1 (evolutionary genomics) and is part of the research culture working group.

Dr Nan Zhao (she/her)

Dr Nan Zhao s a postdoctoral researcher working on Theme 2 (mRNA translation) in Dr Julie Aspden’s and Dr Chris West’s labs at the University of Leeds. She is also involved in RiboCode’s work on sustainability.

Dr JO CUNNINGHAM (she/her)

Dr Jo Cunningham is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sheffield. Her work contributes to Theme 2 (mRNA translation) and Theme 3 (structure of specialised ribosomes). Jo also contributes to RiboCode’s research culture working group.

dr bulat fatkhullin (he/him)

Dr Bulat Fatkhullin is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Leeds. Bulat’s work contributes to Theme 3 (structure of specialised ribosomes). He is also part of RiboCode’s outreach team.

Postgraduate Researchers

veronica thuburn (she/her)

Veronica Thuburn is a PhD student at the University of Sheffield, working on Theme 2 (mRNA translation). She is based in the Thomson lab. In addition, Veronica is part of RiboCode’s outreach team.

tayah hopes (she/her)

Tayah Hopes is a PhD student based in the Aspden lab at the University of Leeds. Her work contributes to Theme 2 (mRNA translation). Tayah is also part of RiboCode’s outreach team.

TESSA CHAN (she/her)

Tessa Chan is a PhD student in the Thomson lab at the University of Sheffield. Tessa’s project is also associated with Theme 2 (mRNA translation). She is also involved in the research culture working group.

ella dimascio (she/her)

Ella Dimascio is a PhD student based in the Whitehouse lab at the University of Leeds. Her project also contributes to Theme 2 (mRNA translation). Ella is also an active member of RiboCode’s outreach team.

deanna saunders (she/her)

Deanna Saunders is a PhD student at the University of Leeds, working on Theme 4 (transformative technologies). Deanna works across Dr Paolo Actis and Dr Julie Aspden’s labs.

cath cockeram

Cath Cockeram is a PhD student in the Calabrese lab at the University of Leeds. Cath’s project is associated with Theme 3 (structure of specialised ribosomes).

Senior Research Technicians

dr alison wood (she/her)

Dr Alison Wood is a senior research technician working on Theme 2 (mRNA translation) in Dr Emma Thomson’s lab at the University of Sheffield. She is also part of RiboCode’s sustainability working group.

Alex Goncalves (he/him)

Alex Goncalves is a senior research technician working on Theme 2 (mRNA translation) in Dr Julie Aspden’s lab at the University of Leeds. He is also part of RiboCode’s research culture working group.

tayah hopes (she/her)

In addition to her role as a RiboCode postgraduate researcher, Tayah is a senior research technician working on Theme 2 (mRNA translation) in Dr Julie Aspden’s lab.

Bioinformatician

dr elton Vasconcelos (he/him)

Dr Elton Vasconcelos is a senior bioinformatics researcher and contributes to Theme 1 (evolutionary genomics) and Theme 2 (mRNA translation).

Project Officer

Dr Ashleigh Goodenough (she/her)

Dr Ashleigh Goodenough is the RiboCode project officer.

Alumni

Chalmers Chau (he/him)

Dr Chalmers Chau contributed to theme 4 (transformative technologies) as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Leeds from 2023 to 2025. He is now a research fellow within the Faculty of Engineering and Physical sciences.