People

Tom Bellamy gained a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Bristol in 1997, then moved to the newly-formed Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research at University College London. There he carried out a PhD under the supervision of John Garthwaite on nitric oxide signalling in the cerebellum. After a brief postdoctoral period at WIBR, he moved to David Ogden’s group at the National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, London, to learn electrophysiological techniques. In 2004 he was awarded a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship to investigate Ca²⁺ signalling pathways in Bergmann glia, which he currently holds at Babraham.

Saju Balakrishnan has a Masters degree in Marine Biology from Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala, India. He gained his Doctorate degree in Biology from the Georg-August University Goettingen, Germany, for which he studied the calcium metabolism of motor neurons in mice.

Claire Jackson attended Rhodes University (Grahamstown, South Africa) from 1994 until 2003, where she completed a BSc (majoring in Zoology and Entomology) and postgraduate degrees: BSc(Hons), MSc and PhD. Her postgraduate studies focussed on various aspects of reproductive control in the four-striped field mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio) including day-length, temperature, food availability and, endocrinologically, the effects of GnRH and Leptin. Between submitting her PhD thesis and graduating she worked as an assistant to her postgraduate supervisor, running practical sessions and a lecturing course to undergraduate students. She also assisted some friends at their farm and game reserve (amakhala). After graduating she moved over to the UK and was offered a position as a Research Assistant, later as a Research Associate, at the Sub-department of Animal Behaviour (University of Cambridge) in the field of neuro-electrophysiology and imprinting in domestic chicks. In July 2007 she joined the Inositide and Molecular Signalling Laboratories, to investigate the role of P-Rex Rac-GEFs in cerebellar plasticity.

Laura James gained a degree in Biochemistry with Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Kent, Canterbury in 2006. She is currently studying for a PhD on calcium signal transduction in astrocytes.

Collaborators

We collaborate very closely with the Ca²⁺ signalling laboratory of Martin Bootman and Llewelyn Roderick at Babraham.

We also collaborate with the group of Heidi Welch, investigating the role of the P-Rex family of Rac guanine exchange factors in the cerebellum.

External collaborators include David Ogden and Celine Auger in Paris (Slow excitatory synaptic currents in Purkinje neurons), and John Garthwaite in London (Nitric oxide receptor pharmacology).

We also collaborate with Cairn Research Ltd, on the development of new technology for investigating Ca²⁺ kinetics. They kindly sponsor a CASE studentship with us.