Postdoctoral Research Associates
Dr Elena Ureña Horno
Elena received her bachelor of science degree in Chemistry from the University of Jaén, Spain in 2009. After earning her Master’s degree in 2010 at the Pharmaceutical Industry Center CESIF, in Madrid, she worked at "Alcala Farma " company. She then moved to the UK for a placement in Diamond Light Source, Oxford, where she worked for the multimode infrared microscopy and imaging beamline B22. In 2019 she received her Ph.D. in Nanoscience from the University of Southampton working on inorganic colloidal nanoparticles and their energy applications under the supervision of Professor Antonios Kanaras and Professor Pavlos Lagoudakis. Her research was focused on the size and shape control, surface functionalization, and evaluation of the photoluminescence enhancing properties of Lanthanides Doped-Upconversion Nanoparticles. Elena joined the Giardiello Group as a postdoctoral researcher in 2020 to work with Inorganic/Organic Nanocomposite Particles.
PhD Students
Daniel Traynor
Daniel graduated from the University of Liverpool with a first class MChem degree in 2020. In 2019, he undertook an undergraduate research project within the Cooper Group at Liverpool, focusing on Porous Organic Cages. During the summer of 2019, Daniel completed an EPSRC funded vacation bursary with Dr Marco Giardiello investigating the effect of polymer morphology on the size and surfaces of gold nanoparticles. He then joined the Rannard group for his Master’s project, which involved the optimisation of hydrophobic methacrylate polymerisations for nanoparticle formation. He is now studying for his PhD in the Giardiello Group aiming to develop novel radiosensitisers for use in radiotherapy and Proton Beam Therapy, where he will work in both the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine.
Neve Thomson
Neve graduated in the summer of 2021 with a First Class MChem (Hons) degree from the University of Liverpool. During her undergraduate programme she spent a semester at the University of Georgia (USA), before returning to complete a research project in Prof Rosseinsky’s group focussing on ion exchange in a multiple-anion material. During the summer of 2020, she completed an internship working alongside academics facilitating the transfer between virtual learning environments. For her Master’s project, Neve synthesised chiral functionalised enamine N-oxides to create new heterocyclic scaffolds for drug discovery. Neve was honoured with three academic awards during her undergraduate degree, most notably the Ellard Woolcott Prize in Chemistry in her final year for best performance in the Honours School of Chemistry. Neve is now studying for her PhD in the Giardiello group developing novel nanoparticulate theranostic agents for use in targeted drug delivery, monitored by MRI.
Lewis Owens
Lewis graduated from the University of Liverpool with a first class MChem degree in 2022. In 2021, he completed a summer placement at Unilever regarding deposition studies of potential new environmentally friendly materials. He then fulfilled his MChem project in Prof Paul O’Neill’s group, working on the synthesis of novel anti-malarial therapeutics. He is now studying for his PhD in the Giardiello group with the goal of developing novel MPI tracers, with optimisation for theranostic applications.