Emi Psachoulia


Department of Biochemistry
University of Oxford
South Parks Road
Oxford, OX1 3QU

Merton College
Oxford, OX1 4JD

emi {at} biop.ox.ac.uk 		Image of Mistic in LDAO micelle

Background

I completed my BSc(1st class honours) degree in Astronomy and Physics at University College London in 2003. Then, I did a MSc in Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces at Imperial College London with thesis title 'Polarization of cosmic microwave background radiation'.


I joined Oxford University in September 2004 and I am on the 4-year Wellcome Trust D.Phil Programme in Structural Biology:"From Molecules to Cells". After completed my 1st year's rotation projects, I am currently studying for a DPhil under the supervision of Professor Mark Sansom. I am at Merton college.


Research interests

I am mostly interested in studying the interactions of membrane-associated proteins,which are involved in cellular signalling, with other molecules in the lipid bilayers. More specifically, I will use molecular simulations to study a) integrins and b) proteins that interact with inositol lipids, e.g. docking studies of protein/IP3 performed during my 2nd rotation project in Prof Sansom's group.

Moreover, I am working on Mistic, an unusual membrane-integrating protein involved in membrane protein expression. I would like to examine the nature of interaction of Mistic with detergents and with lipids as well as its insertion mechanism into bilayers.