PIKE RESEARCH GROUP
Team
Postdoctoral
Dr Kushal Samanta
Kushal completed his master’s degree in chemistry with Inorganic Chemistry specialization from University of Calcutta. He joined in Bioinorganic Laboratory of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay to pursue PhD in Calix[4]arene chemistry. In 2017, he joined Tianjin University as a postdoctoral scholar, in the group of Prof. Han Zuilhof and Dr. Andrew C. –H. Sue to explore various facets of rim-differentiated Pillar[5]arene chemistry and small molecular Cholera Toxin inhibitor. In the year 2018, he was awarded SAFEA grant for outstanding Postdocs by Government of China and allocated a funding to conduct research in an overseas university. During his tenure in Tianjin University, China and Wageningen University, Netherland, he established synthesis of new pentavalent macrocycle, called Tiara[5]arene and explored its host-guest properties, polymorphic and selective adsorption behaviour. In February 2021, Kushal joined School of Chemistry of University of Kent as a PDRA to explore enantiospecific synthesis of the short peptide-metal cages, he also explored non-natural amino acid synthesis, site specific acceptor/donor incorporation on oligoproline peptides, formation of porous supramolecular peptide framework and designing stapled oligoproline peptides. In March 2023, Kushal joined Dr. Pike’s group to explore synthesis and recognition behaviour of photo-active foldamers. In his free time, Kushal likes to play all sort of racquet games, board games and read books.
Dr Liam Mcgarry
Liam completed a BSc(Hons) in Chemistry and Biochemistry, double major, at Massey University (New Zealand). He joined the Prof Houlton group at Newcastle University (UK) and completed a PhD investigating coinage metal coordination with sulfur-modified nucleobases. He investigated the self-assembly of a low-weight molecular gelator, a gold(I)-bis-6-thioguanosine complex. He also studied coordination polymers, nanoclusters, and the coordination of coinage metals to sulfur-modified DNA. In April 2024, Liam joined Dr Pike’s group to research foldamers. Liam is an enthusiastic artist who likes to paint, write and sculpt; he has a BA in Fine Art from Central St. Martins, London. In his spare time, he enjoys running, playing badminton and swimming.
PhD
Alex completed his undergraduate degree at The University of Birmingham, England in 2021. He worked on his MSci project under the supervision of Dr Anna Peacock, researching and analysing DNA-peptide interactions for applications in synthesising mechanically interlocked peptide-DNA rotaxanes. He supports AFC Wimbledon and enjoys playing the saxophone and keeping fit in his spare time.
Sena Ozturk
Sena Ozturk completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Kent, Canterbury in 2021. After getting her Bachelor’s, she continued onto a Masters at the University of Kent under the supervision of supramolecular chemist, Prof Jennifer Hiscock. Her research involved “Synthesis and study of potential fluorescent sensors and steps towards understanding a new class of SSAs”. She is now doing her Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr Sarah Pike, and is working on the development of responsive oligomers for functional applications. She also supports AFC Wimbledon, enjoys playing on her Nintendo SwitchTM, and reading. She is also a cat person,
Katherine Deverson
Katie completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Birmingham in 2023. She worked on her MSci project supervised by Prof James Tucker researching the use of ferrocene nucleic acids to sense mercury. In her spare time, Katie is an avid dancer taking part in national competitions on both the university and open circuit. She also enjoys doing cross-stitching and calligraphy to relax.
Moosa Wasim
Moosa completed his MSci degree earlier this year. For his MSci project, he worked in the O'Reilly group, investigating click chemistry for use in DNA-templated synthesis. Moosa is now pursuing a PhD in the Pike group as a joint project student with Dr Chiara Arno, this project is funded by the The Centre for Doctoral Training in Topological Design (CDT). In his spare time, he likes watching football and supports Aston Villa. He also enjoys following cricket and playing video games.
Mina Kassim
Mina, a Biochemistry graduate from Aston University, is currently pursuing her PhD as an MIBTP student at Aston. Her research focuses on understanding the role of the human water channel AQP4 in health and disease. Additionally, she's engaged in a mini project as part of the Pike group at the University of Birmingham exploring Redox-Active Foldamer-DNA Scaffolds for Sensing. Beyond academia, Mina enjoys socializing with friends and spending quality time with her family.
Past group members
Helena is a final year MSci student at the University of Birmingham. She recently completed an industrial placement at Evotec’s Abingdon site where she synthesised and developed small drug molecules for disease treatment. Within Dr Pike’s research group, she focused on synthesis of light-responsive helical oligomers for use in catalysis. In her spare time, Helena enjoys playing tennis and the saxophone.
Helena Greenwell
Michael is currently a fourth year student on his MSci Chemistry course at the University of Birmingham. He has completed a year in industry at Evotec as a medicinal chemist developing small molecule drugs. He enjoys running, reading and playing board games in his spare time.
Michael Cottril
Craig completed his undergraduate degree at The University of Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2014. He worked on his MChem project under the supervision of Prof. Polly Arnold, synthesizing borate-tethered N-heterocyclic carbenes for application in “Frustrated Lewis Pair” (FLP) chemistry. In 2015, Craig moved to the National University of Singapore for his PhD with Dr. Rowan Young, where he worked on metal and non-metal based Frustrated Lewis Pair (FLP) chemistry. He then joined the Philp/Stoddart group at Northwestern University, USA, as a postdoctoral scholar in 2019 to work in the area of supramolecular systems chemistry. Craig joined the Pike group in 2021 as a PDRA working on the development of functional supramolecular architectures.
Dr Craig Fraser
Oliver did his MSci in Chemistry at the University of Birmingham with the Grainger group. He joined the Pike group for a summer research project leading up to his final year of the degree in the summer of 2023 where he is contributing to the synthesis of helical oligomers designed for applications in synthesis. In his spare time he enjoys playing the cello, writing music and playing video games.
Oliver Beck
Gurshinder completed her MSci degree at the University of Birmingham (UK), She has also completed an analytical chemistry industrial placement at AstraZeneca, Macclesfield (UK). For her Master’s project in Dr Pike’s group, she looked at the synthesis and characterisation of a novel foldamers for functional applications. Post-graduation, she is currently doing her PhD at the University of Oxford. In her spare time, she enjoys creating meaningful artwork, reading fiction novels, and playing board and card games.
Gurshinder Kaur
Matt completed his MSci degree at the University of Birmingham. He previously completed a year in industry at the GSK site in Stevenage as an organic synthetic chemist making small molecule drugs for disease treatment. Matt joined the Pike group for his Master's project working on synthesis and analysis of a hybrid supramolecular scaffolds under the supervision of Dr Pike and Professor Tucker. He is interested in organic synthetic chemistry and is currently pursuing this through a PhD at the University of Bristol. In his spare time, Matt enjoys baking, swimming, and photography.
Matthew Horwood
Tyla is a final year student currently working on a joint MSci project between the Pike and Peacock group researching the development of hybrid foldamer scaffolds. He enjoys going on walks with his German shepherd, playing guitar and watching David Lynch films.
Tyla Ward
Josef Dann joined the group for his MSci project in autumn of 2021, and worked on the synthesis of foldamers for catalytic purposes. Josef currently has a position working at Evotech.
Josef Dann
Steffan Walker-Griffiths joined us in 2022 for a summer research project funded by University of Birmingham, Department of Chemistry. He worked on the synthesis of novel foldamers. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Birmingham. Today, Stefan is pursuing a PhD at the university of Birmingham under the supervision Dr Joseph Beames, working in the area of advanced solution phase spectroscopy and computational chemistry.
Steffan Walker-Griffiths
Adam joined the Pike group (2020-2021) and worked on the development of functional foldamers.
Adam Loker
Alice joined the Pike group (2020-2021) as an MSci student for her joint project with Dr Andy Jupp.
Alice Harmer
University of Bradford Alumni
Jacob Laing – MChem (2019) (joint with the Hughes group)
Corentin Paihas –ERASMUS student (2019)
Angelique Kergreis –ERASMUS student (2019)
Armelle Heliot –ERASMUS student (2019)
Harold Rasalan -MChem student (2018) (joint with the Lord group)
Matthias Benavides - ERASMUS student (2018)
Pierre Delfosse - ERASMUS student (2018)