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Dr. Yvonne Nyathi

10 publications
1 award

Biography

 Dr Yvonne Nyathi joined the University of Bradford in February 2020 as a Lecturer in Biochemistry. The field of protein quality control (proteostasis) broadly covers Yvonne’s previous and present research interests. Her PhD research focused on elucidating the mechanisms regulating the targeting, localisation and function of an ABCD1 transporter protein pivotal in peroxisomal fatty acid beta-oxidation. In 2010 when Yvonne finished her PHD, she  worked as a R&D scientist at Aptuscan Ltd (a spin-out company of the University of Leeds which is now part of the Avacta Group), developing proprietary combinatorial libraries and reagents for the platform Affimer technology (antibody mimetics with tuneable affinity and avidity) that underpins one of the key technologies in the company to date. The transition from an academic research environment to a commercial setting at a very early stage in her research career sparked her interest in translational research, which she is currently very keen to pursue. Following the acquisition of Aptuscan by The Avacta Group, Yvonne joined Dr Martin Pool’s lab at the University of Manchester, studying mechanisms that regulate protein quality control at the ribosome. Yvonne’s work showed that the quality control factors at the ribosome compete for bind and all events are tightly regulated to reduce the chances of mistakes during protein synthesis. This work led to a publication in the Journal of Cell Biology and attracted a commentary in Nature reviews. In 2014,  Yvonne then joined  Prof Stephen High’ lab  at the University of Manchester, working collaboratively with the chemical biology/structural biology group of Dr Rivka Isaacson (Kings College) focusing on the role of chaperones in mislocalised protein quality control. In 2017, Yvonne joined the University of Lincoln to pursue her research interests in protein quality control focusing on the role of the co-chaperone SGTA in protein misfolding/aggregation in the context of age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and in the signalling pathways that regulate cancer .

Research

Protein Quality Control Mechanisms
Protein folding and Dynamics
Protein Aggregation and Disease
Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation
Protein Engineering for Improved Functions



Research collaborator

  • Protein quality control in Neurodegeneration (Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine)
  • Molecular dynamic simulation (University of Bradford)
  • Affimer technology for the identification of novel affinity reagents (University of Leeds)
  • Cataracts (University of Bradford)
  • Molecular imprinted polymers (University of Leicester )

Teaching

Currently teaching on the following modules:
Development of Practical Skills 1 BIS4003 Level 4
Introductory Biochemistry – BIS4007 Level 4- Module leader
Development of Practical Skills 2  BIS5003 Level 5
Clinical and Analytical Biochemistry BIS5013 Level 5
Research Projects  BIS6026 Level
Research Topics 1  BIS6009 Level 6 -Module leader
Research Topics 2  BIS6010 Level 6
Biology of Disease BIS6012 Level 6
Neuroendocrine Basis of Regulation and Metabolism BIS7021 Level 7
Research Project BIS7026 Level 7  
Supervised 15 undergraduate students, 2 MSc  students and 2 PhD student over the past  3 years.    


Professional activities

  • Fellow of Higher Education Academy (1 July 2015)

  • Equality and Diversity, (1 March 2021)

  • I was awarded a grant by the Biochemical Society to engage sixth form students with Molecular Biosciences. My focus was on protein folding and how this lead to disease if it goes wrong.

  • Biochemical Society, Member (1 January 2017)

Publications