Melissa Bowerman, Ph.D.

Dr Bowerman is a Senior Lecturer in Neuromuscular & Skeletal Disorders at the School of Medicine, a Group Member of the Wolfson Centre for Inherited Neuromuscular Disease in Oswestry and co-lead of the Keele University Neuroscience & Neurology research group (@KeeleNeuro). Dr Bowerman is also a member of the Brain Sciences, Future Neurology, Gene Therapy and Frontiers Neurodegeneration editorial boards.

Dr Bowerman completed her Ph.D. (2006-2012) in Dr Rashmi Kothary's laboratory (Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI)/University of Ottawa, Canada) where she held a CIHR Frederick Banting and Charles Best doctoral award and received the OHRI Dr. Ronald G. Worton Researcher in Training Award. Dr Bowerman then joined Dr Cedric Raoul's laboratory at the Institut des Neurosciences de Montpellier in France as an EMBO Long-Term Fellow (2012-2014). From 2014-2016, Dr Bowerman was a postdoctoral research assistant at the University of Oxford in Professor Matthew Wood's group. In October 2015, Dr Bowerman was the recipient of a Junior Research Fellowship at Somerville College, University of Oxford (2015-2017).  In January 2016, Dr Bowerman was awarded and SMA Trust Career Development Fellowship at the University of Oxford.

Emad I H Shaqoura, MD, M.Sc., PhD Candidate

Emad is a Ph.D. student in the Bowerman Laboratory at Keele University, co-supervised by Dr Heidi Fuller. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery from Alexandria University, Egypt (2010). He got a Master’s degree in anatomy from the Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science & Technology, Jordan (2015). His Master’s research was about the dose-related effects of Mesterolone on skeletal muscle hypertrophy and hyperplasia. In his Ph.D., Emad is evaluating the vulnerability of different skeletal muscles in different types of myopathies.

Eve McCallion, M.Sci. Senior Research Technician

Eve graduated from the University of Birmingham, UK in July 2021 after completing an M.Sci. degree in Human Biology. Her Master’s project involved researching how vancomycin alters the metabolism of macrophages and how this impacts antifungal immunity. She previously worked in the lab between 2021-2023 as a research technician in neuromuscular disease and returned in January 2024. She also gained experience working as a senior research technician in a neuroscience lab working with Drosophila melanogaster at the University of Birmingham.

Maryam Zahedi, Ph.D., Research Technician

Maryam graduated from the University of Manchester (UK) in July 2012 after completing her PhD in the School of Biological Sciences. After her graduation, she worked at Qiagen for more than a decade as R & D Research Scientist involved in developing in vitro diagnostic or medical devices.

Alessia Ostini, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Associate

Alessia completed her Ph.D. (2020-2024) in Cancer Biology at Keele University (UK) where she investigated the biomarker and therapeutic potential of long non-coding RNA in leukaemia and neuroblastoma. She previously worked at Labcorp as a clinical study coordinator. She obtained her Bachelor of Science (B.Sc. Hons) in Human Biology and Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Keele, UK. After her graduation, Alessia worked at Viridor (Pennon Group) as a Junior Quality Manager.

Katie Haynes, MPhil student

Katie is a medical student at Keele University. She is currently completing an intercalated MPhil before rejoining her final year of studies. Katie previously joined the lab in 2022 to complete a summer studentship and she will continue this research during her MPhil project. Her project, in collaboration with the University of Hertfordshire, looks to evaluate the role of autophagy, dopamine and the impact of novel drug therapies in spinal muscular atrophy.

Luis Felipe Velandia Dorta, BSc, MSc, PhD Student

Luis is a Ph.D. student in the Bowerman Lab at Keele University. He graduated from King’s College London, UK (2021) after completing his Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience, where he researched the impact of adult neurogenesis in neurodegenerative diseases, with a focus on Alzheimer’s Disease. He got a Master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience from Keele University in 2023. His research was about the effect of novelty-seeking behaviour, salience and impulsiveness on visual perception. In his Ph.D., Luis is assessing the role of skeletal muscle in metabolic perturbations in Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

Past lab members and their subsequent destinations:

RESEARCH ASSISTANTS & TECHNICIANS

1. Gia Hepburn (2023-2024, Technical Assistant); Next step: ?

2. Eve McCallion (2021-2023, Research Technician); Next step: Senior Research Technician, University of Birmingham, UK

3. Nina Ahlskog (2017-2018, Research Tssistant); Next step: Research Assistant, University of Oxford, UK

PH.D. STUDENTS

1. Özge Çetin (2021-2024); Next step: Postdoc, UCL, UK

2. Emma R Sutton (2018-2022); Next step: Postdoc, Ottawa Hospital Research Insitute, Canada

3. Joe Hoolachan (2018-2021); Next step: Postdoc, City of Hope, USA

4. Karin Meijboom (2014-2018); Next step: Postdoc, University of Massachussets, USA

M.SC. STUDENTS

1. Gia Hepburn (2022); Next step: Technical Assistant, Keele University, UK

2. Sihame Bouhmidi (2022); Next step: M.Sc., University of Mons, Belgium

3. Lauren Churchill (2021-2022); Next step: Ph.D., University of Manchester, UK

4. Imane Boukhloufi (2020); Next step: Ph.D., UCL, UK

ASPIRE SUMMER STUDENSHIPS

1. Remi Cooper (2024); Next step; School of Medicine, Keele University, UK

2. Nutcha Nakwatchara (2024); Next step; School of Medicine, Keele University, UK

3. Ankush Dhoowooah (2023); Next step: School of Medicine, Keele University, UK

4. Jessica Cook (2023); Next step: School of Medicine, Keele University, UK

5. Katie Haynes (2022); Next step: School of Medicine, Keele University, UK

6. Veer Patel (2021); Next step: School of Medicine, Keele University, UK

7. Andrew Gregory (2021); Next step: School of Medicine, Keele University, UK

8. Zeluleko Sibanda (2019); Next step: School of Medicine, Keele University, UK

RCSI-BAHRAIN SUMMER STUDENSHIPS

1. Shri Aanya Umakanth (2024); Next step: RCSI-Bahrain, Bahrain

2. Yahya Al-Mozani (2023); Next step: RCSI-Bahrain, Bahrain

SUMMER INTERNSHIPS

1. Maria Varughese (2023); Next step: School of Medicine, University of Sheffield, UK

2. Magnus Okoh (2019); Next step: School of Medicine, Keele University, UK

3. Medha Nayar (2019); Next step: University of East Anglia, UK

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE Y3 SSCs

1. Millie Edwards (2024); Next step: School of Medicine, Keele University, UK

2. Juanita Koomson (2023); Next step: School of Medicine, Keele University, UK

3. Adam Malik (2022); Next step: School of Medicine, Keele University, UK

SCHOOL OF LIFE SCIENCES UG ISP PROJECTS

1. Shoaib Ahmad (2024-2025); Next step: School of Life Sciences UG, Keele University, UK

2. Arlind Sejdiu (2024-2025); Next step: School of Life Sciences UG, Keele University, UK

3. Cameron Blakeston (2023-2024); Next step: School of Life Sciences UG, Keele University, UK

4. Mohammed Ahmed (2023-2024); Next step: School of Life Sciences UG, Keele University, UK

5. Cassandra Jacob (2022-2023); Next step: School of Life Sciences UG, Keele University, UK

6. Robert Dyer (2022-2023); Next step: School of Life Sciences UG, Keele University, UK

7. Josef Crompton (2022-2023); Next step: School of Life Sciences UG, Keele University, UK

8. Taylor Scaife (2021-2022); Next step: School of Life Sciences UG, Keele University, UK

9. Sara Iqbal (2021-2022); Next step: School of Life Sciences UG, Keele University, UK

10. Lauren Churchill (2020-2021); Next step: M.Sci., School of Life Sciences, Keele University, UK