Joana studied Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Porto and was an Erasmus exchange student at the University of Glasgow as part of her master's research project. She received multiple awards as the best student of her academic year. She was later awarded a fellowship in 2012 to do her PhD between the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology (IBMC) in Porto and the Institut Pasteur in South Korea, where she studied enzymes involved in carbon and amino acid metabolism as potential drug targets against Leishmania and T. brucei. Here, Joana acquired a diverse skillset ranging from molecular genetics to cell biology, biochemistry and drug discovery. 

Joana's passion for virulence mechanisms, host pathogen interactions and gene expression led her to Dundee in 2016 to do a postdoc on mechanisms underpinning antigenic variation in T. brucei with Prof. David Horn. This has remained her true passion, as well as nuclear organisation, nuclear bodies and protein condensates and how those impact gene expression, something she wants to expand to other Kinetoplastids as an independent researcher. Joana was awarded the Molecular and Cell Biology Prize 2020 (University of Dundee) and the SULSA ECR Prize in Regulation and Development (2020). 

In 2021, Joana was awarded a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship (2021), funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society, and the Wellcome-Beit Prize to establish her lab at the University of York.

Recently she has been appointed a proleptic Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences at the University of York (Biology) and has received the President's Medal from the British Society of Parasitology (2022). 

Joana is a music and cinema aficionado. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, travelling, walking in the beautiful English countryside, going to museums and diving into the Manchester and Leeds underground music scene. 

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Lianne obtained her Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Amsterdam, with a strong interest in tropical infectious diseases and immunology. Her PhD, obtained from the Queensland University of Technology (Australia), whilst working at QIMR Berghofer and subsequently The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, focussed on the molecular mechanisms of host-pathogen interactions during malaria infection, using scRNA-Seq and metabolomics. In the Faria group she aims to increase our understanding of genetic regulation in Kinetoplastids, with a primary focus on monogenic antigen expression in T. brucei. Apart from her passion for science, she is also passionate about nature and wildlife. Whenever she is not working, she tends to go out and explore the natural surroundings. At home she enjoys doing all sorts of arts, crafts and gardening.   

Cian is a DiMeN programme PhD student at the University of York. He completed his undergraduate at Trinity College Dublin where he studied Zoology, specialising in Parasitology. During his time there he developed a keen interest in parasite genetics, culminating in his final year thesis that focused on Red Queen dynamics in the Daphnia magna - Ordospora colligata system. He is fascinated by the myriad of strategies used by parasites to infect and survive within their host. He looks forward to investigating Leishmania spp. during his PhD. Cian is primarily supervised by Dr Dan Jeffares and co-supervised by Prof Jeremy Mottram and Dr Joana Faria. When not in the lab, he loves getting involved in science communication. While at Trinity he worked as the Science Editor for two years at Trinity News, Ireland’s oldest and most successful student newspaper. He also hosted a radio show on Trinity FM that discussed paranormal events & cryptozoological sightings, whilst using current scientific knowledge to try to explain the unexplained. Outside of his scientific endeavours, he enjoys writing music and has been playing the drums for various bands over the last twelve years. 

Kiera is currently studying an Integrated Masters course in Veterinary Biosciences at the University of Glasgow. Her main biological interests lie with parasitology so, after being accepted for her master’s year of studies, she was very excited to hear about the work being carried out by the Faria Lab. The chance to discover more about how the African Trypanosomes are able to use antigenic variation to more easily infect their host is incredible. Outside of studies, her main interests lie with reading and roller skating. She is looking forward to finding the best spots to skate in York and getting to know the local skating community.

I am a 4th year Integrated Master's in Biochemistry student, currently doing my Master's project as a student under Dr Joana R. Correia as part of the York Biomedical Research Institute Faria Lab. I am using a combination of CRISPR/Cas9 precision editing & tagging techniques with immunofluorescent & super-resolution microscopy imaging techniques, to investigate the role of phosphorylation & SUMOylation of key proteins in regulating the monogenic expression of variant surface glycoproteins (VSG) via biomolecular condensates in Trypanosoma brucei. 

I am especially passionate about the roles that statistics, probability theory & data visualisation play in science, both within academia, and in the interface between academia & the broader public. I hope to put my interests in this side of research to good use throughout my project and beyond. Outside of the lab, I am interested in baking, reading, badminton & walking; I am also very keen on spotting the wildlife around York while out on walks or watching TV shows with friends that we have all already seen before.

Leon is currently pursuing a PhD in Mechanistic Biology funded by the White Rose DTP. His academic journey began with a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Konstanz in Germany. Already during his undergraduate years, he got drawn into the international academic world conducting his bachelor's project in New Zealand. Later, during his master’s program, he got particularly interested in structural biology through an CryoEM-focused internship at the CSSB in Hamburg. Afterwards Leon pursued a one-year Master's project under the guidance of Eva Kowalinski at the EMBL Grenoble in France finding his passion in the world of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and Structural Biology of Trypanosomes. This newfound fascination led him to dub himself a "Structural Trypanosomaniac." Now he is eager to share and deepen his experience in the Faria Lab. Here, he aims to contribute and expand his knowledge in recombinant protein expression and structural biology. His primary focus will be on the structural and functional characterization of VEX2, employing cutting-edge CryoEM and proteomic techniques to unravel its role and regulation within the context of monoallelic VSG expression. Beyond his academic pursuits, Leon is an avid explorer, he finds inner peace in backpacking across the vibrant landscapes of Latin America. His fascination reaches from contemporary and ancient indigenous cultures to the lush biodiversity of jungles and cloud forests, while scaling the heights of the largest volcanoes on the continent. In his day-to-day life during his PhD, Leon is working on his Spanish and cooking skills, reads throught the political and historical landscape of the world and finds joy in activities such as football, volleyball, hiking, and board game evenings.