Dr Laura Lyons

PhD in Microbiology

I currently work as an Analytical Chemist in the High Resolution Metabolomics Laboratory. I am responsible for sample handling and preparation, along with running and maintaining instruments, and data analysis.

I hold a PhD in Microbiology from IBERS, Aberystwyth University, where I was working under the joint supervision of Kerrie Farrar and Justin Pachebat. Therefore I have experience in molecular, genetic, chemical analytical, and computational approaches. Currently, I work in a core metabolomics group to provide quality data and analysis for a large number of projects, from Diet, Exercise and Health, to Food and Beverages. My position has enabled me to gain skills pertaining to human analytical chemistry and metabolism. I have worked on multiple University approved clinical trials as well as assisting with a number of NHS approved clinical trials. I work closely with PDRAs who run Health and Well-being Assessments/Intervention studies, alongside Future Foods to gain information from metabolic content of biofluids and chemical phenotyping via high throughput fingerprinting and mass spectrometry profiling. I have also aided in investigations of current and future food and beverage products to push forward growth of Welsh businesses. Research and development is company led, with scientific support provided by the University team. The SODIAT project aims to use new and novel ways to assess diet, including urine and finger-prick blood samples to test for ‘biomarkers’ of food and beverage consumption, providing objective data; where I aid in optimisation of sample extraction and processing, as well as instrument methodology, and utilise RStudio for sample analysis. The BAC-STOP project is about stopping the spread of pathogenic bacteria that are damaging and causing the death of many native British oak trees. The project aims to save threatened oak and protect them for future generations by investigating the microbial and vector biology as well as the community impact of Acute Oak Decline (AOD). I aid the PDRA in obtaining, processing, and analysing samples via LC-MS, looking for metabolomic markers that could indicate AOD.