Looking to grow the team, Interested in joining?
Jessica Cross (Lecturer): I gained a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, UK (2017) where I worked in the labs of Prof Steve Ley and Prof Shankar Balasubramanian. I was a visiting student at the University of Melbourne in the lab of Prof Anastasios Polyzos and at the University of Bristol in the labs of Prof Paul Pringle and Prof Chris Willis. I completed and a PhD in Chemical Synthesis working on peptide disruptors and facilitators of protein-protein interactions for mediating intracellular transport supervised by Prof Dek Woolfson and Prof Mark Dodding at the University of Bristol in 2022. I continued this work as a post-doctoral researcher in the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol (2022 – 2023) and then took up an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship, working on the de novo design of cell-penetrating peptides to manipulate motor proteins in cells as a Senior Research Associate in the School of Biochemistry (2023 – 2024). I am now a lecturer in Engineering Biology in the School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology at the University of Bristol. I love working at the interface of chemistry, biology and engineering and building new collaborations. I also enjoy travelling and watersports!
Henry Allman (PhD Student): I am originally from Abergavenny, South Wales (where this picture is taken). I completed my undergraduate studies in Chemistry at UCL before specialising in Computational Chemistry during my masters at Oxford. This is where I discovered and became fascinated with protein chemistry. After taking a year out for some R&R and working as a computational scientist at a drug-development start-up in Bristol, I have returned to university for my PhD, supervised by Jess with support from Dek Woolfson and Mark Dodding and funded by the SWBio DTP. For my first rotation project, I will be investigating Kif1A, also known as the “ultra-marathon runner of the cellular world,” due to its super long run lengths. In my spare time, I enjoy road cycling and watching movies.
Xuetong Wu (PhD student): I obtained my Master’s degree in Nanoscience and Technology from the Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2024. My Master’s research was conducted at the Institute of Biophysics, CAS under the supervision of Prof. Xiyun Yan, focusing on the mechanism of small molecules loading in ferritin and applications. In 2025, I continued working as a research assistant, participating in collaborative studies on enzyme active sites. Now I am working with Dr. Jessica Cross and Prof. Dek Woolfson on exciting research involving coiled-coil during my PhD. I also enjoy badminton and skiing in my free time.
Jake Beckett (MSci Student): I’m a final-year MSci Chemistry student at the University of Bristol and an RSci Registered Scientist. I recently completed a year-long industrial placement with Syngenta Biologicals (2024/2025), where I led formulation research and won Best Presentation at the YCP IP and Apprenticeship Symposium 2025. Alongside my studies, I run a STEM tutoring business with over 200 hours of one-to-one teaching. My MSci research focuses on designing de novo proteins to bind and activate kinesin-1 motor proteins, exploring how synthetic scaffolds can be engineered to control intracellular transport for applications in targeted delivery and synthetic biology. Outside the lab, I’m learning French (currently B2 level) and hope to work abroad in the future; I also enjoy rugby and Formula 1.
Aimee Munro (Undergraduate Student): I am a 3rd year student on the MSci Biochemistry program at the University of Bristol. This summer, I participated in a project, with Jessica Cross as my supervisor, on the effect of the synthetic peptide KinTag on the transport and binding of cellular cargo by Kinesin-1. During this experience, I worked on mammalian cell culture, was able to express and purify proteins and visualized the movement of kinesin-1 in immunofluorescence assays in the Wolfson Bioimaging facility. I found this experience invaluable and was able to gain lots of transferable lab-based skills. As a result of this summer, I am seeking out similar experiences and am motivated to work within a lab-based setting as a future career.
Jess Cross Lab 