Jovana graduated with a Bachelor in Molecular Biology from the University of Belgrade in her home country, Serbia in 2020. After that, she joined the International Master in Innovative Medicine program jointly given by Heidelberg University in Germany and Uppsala University in Sweden. During her course, she explored her interest in the field of drug delivery and controlled release by working on projects in preparation and testing of nanoparticles for delivering drugs to cancer and brain at German Cancer Research Center and the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Finally, she did her final thesis research work with Professor Hagan Bayley in Oxford, where she developed a method for production of giant vesicles for delivery purposes. In addition, Jovana is a big foodie so you can often find her exploring local restaurants and bars. She also enjoys dancing and travelling, as well as binge watching latest Netflix shows.

Leonard completed his MBiochem at the University of Oxford in 2021. During his final year, he focused on the synthesis and characterisation of pulmonary vasoconstrictors and mIDH1/2 inhibitors, supervised by Professor Chris Schofield. He has also spent a summer working in biotech, where he used mass spectrometry and proteomics to map drug-protein interactions in vivo. Before enrolling in the Chemistry in Cells course, Leonard took a year out, working at a software consultancy and travelling across South America. Outside of the lab, he is a keen triathlete and can often be found outdoors running or cycling around the Oxfordshire countryside, or indoors enjoying a good book.

Josh read MBiochem as an undergraduate at the University of Oxford. His interest for chemical biology and rational drug design developed through the supplementary Aromatic and Heterocyclic Pharmaceutical Chemistry course, leading him to undertake his Part II research project with Professor Chris Schofield FRS in the Oxford Chemistry Research Laboratory. Working alongside the Ineos Oxford Institute (IOI) for Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR), Josh explored potential biosynthetic routes to produce penicillin sulfonic acid analogues. During a summer placement at the University Hospital in Cardiff, he studied the importance of mouse models in drug treatments for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Elsewhere, Josh enjoys various sports, playing guitar at church and a gripping crime-drama TV series!

Emilia completed her BSc Honours in Medicinal Chemistry at The University of Leeds, where she was awarded the Elaine Hare prize for top performing third year student. She then took a year out to travel around Asia before joining Professor Ed Tate’s group at Imperial College London to complete an MRes in Drug Discovery and Development. Her masters research project focused on tackling antimicrobial resistance by investigating small molecule inhibitors of bacterial DNA repair and SOS pathways. Following her masters she joined the AstraZeneca R&D graduate programme in Sweden which comprised three 8-month rotations across the organisation. For her first rotation she sat within the in vitro Bioscience Metabolism team investigating novel therapeutics to treat Type 2 Diabetes. Her second rotation focused on establishing an in-house platform that would accelerate the discovery of active PROTACs for implementation across routine DMTA cycles. For her third and final rotation in Mechanistic and Structural Biology, she was profiling sites of ubiquitination using targeted mass spectrometry to guide and improve the design of PROTACs. In her free time she loves to read and play chess. She's also a keen swimmer and polo player.

Raman obtained his BSc and MSc degrees in Nanobiology from Delft University of Technology and the Erasmus University Medical Centre. For his first research project, he joined the group of Professor Cees Dekker and studied bacterial chromosome using live-cell imaging with Aleksandre Japaridze. After an exchange semester at the University of Waterloo, he got excited by the prospect of protein sequencing and worked with Professor Chirlmin Joo and Mike Filius to develop a method for the identification of single proteins during his master’s project. Eventually he interned at Janssen Pharmaceuticals, where he explored model-based optimization of drug manufacturing. In his spare time Raman enjoys sporting with friends whether that is soccer, squash, tennis or simply running and he is interested in international affairs.