Dr. Christopher Aylett’s team work on the molecular pathways controlling cell growth. The aim of his research is to understand how different types of cells make the decision to grow or not to grow in response to their environment at a molecular level. These processes are controlled by the assembly of signalling complexes that can only be visualised through X-ray crystallography and electron cryo-microscopy, and therefore Dr Aylett is also engaged in developing new techniques for sample preparation and analysis in these fields. Understanding these pathways will have important benefits for many diverse human diseases; from diseases of dysfunction, such as cancer and diabetes, to direct infections by bacteria or viruses.
Kailash Ramlaul
Kailash is an Oxford Biochemistry graduate, now a research assistant and part-time PhD student at Imperial. He is using cryo-electron microscopy to structurally characterise protein complexes at the nexus of cell growth signalling.