Ms Aimee Horsfall
Higher Degree by Research Candidate
Postgraduate Student
School of Physical Sciences
Faculty of Sciences
Aimee graduated from a Bachelor of Science (Molecular & Drug Design) in Chemistry at the University of Adelaide in 2015. She then went on to complete a Master of Philosophy in Chemical Science at the University of Adelaide, with a focus on constraining peptide secondary structure with a fluorescent linker, under the supervision of Professor Andrew Abell. Continuing under Professor Abell's guidance and co-supervised by Dr. John Bruning, Aimee is currently undertaking a PhD in Chemistry developing peptide therapeutic inhibitors of the DNA-replication regulator protein, PCNA. Aimee is a member of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale Biophotonics (CNBP) and the Institute for Photonics & Advanced Sensing (IPAS) and is involved in collaborative projects developing peptide-based fluorescent probes and materials for a variety of applications.
The research focus of my PhD encompasses designing and synthesising peptides. My main project looks at using short peptides to probe the interaction interface of the key DNA-replication regulator protein, PCNA. Through understanding the structure and tolerance of the PCNA binding site, we can design new peptide-based therapeutics for treatment of diseases where DNA-replication is erroneous, including use as a broad-spectrum cancer treatment. I have experience in defining and characterising the secondary structure of peptide mimics, including development of a fluorescent peptide constraint to induce helicity in short peptides. As part of my work with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale Biophotonics (CNBP) and the Institute for Photonics & Advanced Sensing (IPAS) I have worked on projects to design and synthesise peptide-based probes which have a turn-on fluorescence response in the presence of the target protein, and developing functional peptide-based materials to enable sensing platforms.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2017 Chemistry Workshop Leader University of Adelaide, Adelaide 2015 Chemistry Practical Demonstrator University of Adelaide, Adelaide -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2017 University of Adelaide, Adelaide Australia Doctorate of Philosophy 2015 - 2017 University of Adelaide, Adelaide Australia Master of Philosophy 2012 - 2014 University of Adelaide, Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Science (Molecular & Drug Design) -
Research Interests
Aimee demonstrates undergraduate chemistry practical labs on a weekly basis during the University semesters, and is also involved with leading undergraduate chemistry workshops.
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