PEOPLE

TIM BLOWER

Professor

Tim did his undergraduate degrees and PhD at Cambridge University, supervised by Prof George Salmond, winning the Sir Howard Dalton Young Microbiologist of the Year Award in 2009 (Microbiology Society) and the Nat L. Sternberg Thesis Prize in 2011 (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, Phage Meeting). He then obtained an EMBO Long-Term Fellowship to join Prof James Berger's lab at the University of California-Berkeley before moving across to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Arriving at Durham University in 2015, Tim won a Springboard Award in 2017 (Academy of Medical Sciences) and a Lister Institute Prize Fellowship in 2019 (Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine). He was made an Associate Professor in 2019, and a Full Professor in 2022. In Jan 2025 Tim moved to a Senior Scientist role at New England Biolabs, USA. Tim will continue to run both labs, and has an Honorary Professor position at Durham University.

SAM WENT

Post-doctoral Research Assistant

Sam has joined the BBSRC sLoLa team investigating interactions between phage defence systems. Sam was a MoSMed funded PhD student. He graduated in Biotechnology at Northumbria University and then completed an MSc in Industrial and Commercial Biotechnology at Newcastle University, where he was part of the 2018 Newcastle team which took part in the international IGEM competition in Boston, USA. He then took up a research position in industry at CPI working on cell-free expression systems before joining the Blower lab to study the BREX bacteriophage-resistance system. Having come from industry, Sam is still getting used to not being able to spend loads of money on whatever equipment he needs.

MARIA PUIU

Post-doctoral Research Assistant

Maria joined the lab as a post-doc investigating the BREX phage defence system. Maria previously obtained an MRes in Molecular Microbiology (2018) followed by a PhD (2022) from Newcastle University. Maria's PhD focused on structure-function studies of RNA polymerase in cyanobacteria and the effect of phage infection in Mycobacterium smegmatis transcription apparatus. After her PhD Maria took on a research role in industry for 1.5 years working on biochemical assay development for characterising the mode of action and potency of various classes of herbicides. Now back in academia Maria is excited to contribute to solving the mechanism of BREX phage defence. Outside work I enjoy running, swimming, hiking and baking.

TOM ARROWSMITH

PhD Student

Tom is a PhD student funded by MoSMed. He was awarded a degree in Pharmacology at Newcastle University in 2020, where he continued his studies as a postgraduate, completing an MSc in Drug Chemistry the following year. Working in collaboration with co-supervisors Dr Agnieszka Bronowska and Dr Danny Cole in Newcastle, Tom’s PhD project focuses on further exploration of Toxin-Antitoxin systems present in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, with the aim of characterising promising antibiotic targets for the development of novel small molecule inhibitors. Tom’s interests include F1, fishing, and more F1.

JENNY READSHAW

PhD Student

Jenny is a PhD student funded by the BBSRC Newcastle-Liverpool-Durham Doctoral Training Partnership. Jenny graduated from Durham University in 2021 with an MBiol in Bioscience, then worked for a year as an intermediate technician developing spider venom toxin-based biopesticides. Working in collaboration with New England Biolabs, Jenny's project aims to characterise the highly promiscuous type IV restriction enzyme involved in bacterial phage defence, BrxU. Jenny will also explore the biotechnological potential of BrxU, with a focus on mapping epigenetic modifications during disease development.

MATTHEW GROBBELAAR

PhD Student

Matthew is a PhD student funded by MoSMed. He graduated from Stellenbosch University in South Africa in 2019 with a BSc in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and in 2020 with a BSc Honours degree in Microbiology. He then spent a year furthering his honours research by characterising a novel mosquitocidal compound and two years working closely with a medical consulting company. Matthew’s PhD project focuses on synthesising antimicrobials derived from the natural toxins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This project aims to generate atomic resolution models of toxin activity, so we can synthesise antimicrobial mimics for treating infections. Matthew’s hobbies include running, cooking and painting South Africa in a good light abroad.