Fellows and Academics

Maria Caiazza

Fulford Junior Research Fellow; Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Maria Caiazza Fulford Junior Research Fellow; Postdoctoral Research Scientist

maria.caiazza@dpag.ox.ac.uk

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Parkinson’s disease is a debilitating disorder that impacts numerous individuals globally and lacks a definitive cure. It is characterised by the degeneration of a specific group of dopamine neurons in the brain, leading to motor symptoms. In my research, I employ stem cell technology to produce dopamine neurons derived from patients affected by Parkinson’s. By utilising these lab-generated neurons, we can closely examine and investigate the disease, aiming to gain a better understanding of its underlying mechanisms.

Calcium is crucial for cellular functions, including energy production, protein function, and neurotransmitter release. Dopamine neurons, with their high energy demands, rely on calcium oscillations to support mitochondrial function and energy production. In the endoplasmic reticulum, calcium aids in protein folding. Parkinson’s is associated with decreased energy production and accumulation of faulty proteins, potentially linked to calcium dysregulation. Due to the importance of calcium in dopamine neurons, even slight disruptions in calcium balance can have significant effects. Understanding the relationship between calcium and Parkinson’s could provide valuable insights towards a better understanding and potential treatment options for the disease.

I study calcium dynamics in stem cell-derived dopamine neurons carrying the mutations GBA-N370S, GBA-L444P, SNCA-Trp and SNCA-A53T using spatially resolved calcium imaging. I use CRISPRi-based functional genomics in neurons to determine the role of specific genes in regulating calcium homeostasis and dynamics. In collaboration with AstraZeneca, Dr Brent Ryan, Dr Ricardo Marquez-Gomez, Ms Janine Brandes and Ms Parnaz Sharifi, we evaluated the ability of compounds to improve cell physiology in stem cell-derived dopamine neurons from patients.

I was granted leave to supplicate for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by the Medical Science Division of the University of Oxford at the start of 2023. Prior to this, I obtained a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree from the University of Pisa, as well as completed an Undergraduate Course at the Scuola Normale Superiore.

View latest and selected publications at https://www.dpag.ox.ac.uk/team/maria-caiazza

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Simon Cassidy

Stipendiary Lecturer

Simon Cassidy Stipendiary Lecturer

simon.cassidy@chem.ox.ac.uk

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I studied for his MChem at St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford. I did a joint sponsored DPhil between the University of Oxford and Diamond Light Source, supervised by Professor Simon Clarke at the Department of Chemistry and Dr Silvia Ramos at the Core EXAFS beamline B18 at Diamond. My background is in the synthesis and characterisation of superconducting materials – using a combination of low and high temperature synthesis techniques, and a variety of characterisation methods centring around diffraction, absorption spectroscopy, and magnetometry.

I have been a lecturer in inorganic chemistry at St Catherine’s college since 2012, tutoring 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate chemists. In April 2019 I was appointed to manage the Inorganic Materials Characterisation Facility in the Chemistry Department of the University of Oxford and my current research greatly benefits from the strong collaborative links within the Chemistry department.

My research interests focus around the application of diffraction and magnetometry techniques to complex structural problems. My background is in the synthesis and characterisation of solid-state compounds, with a focus on layered materials but my interests are broad and many of the projects I am involved in arise through collaboration. I have a high level of experience in the interpretation of complex powder diffraction patterns, which I put to good use in my role in the Inorganic materials Characterisation (IMC) facility.

My role in the department of Chemistry is to manage the powder X-ray diffraction and magnetometry instruments in the inorganic chemistry laboratory as part of the IMC research facility. The suite of instruments is a highly advanced resource for the characterisation of inorganic materials studied here at the University of Oxford. In addition to the large group of users within the Chemistry department, it attracts many users from the Physics and Materials departments and a few from further afield.

Further to managing the facility instrumentation, I also coordinate a Block Allocation Group (BAG) access to the high-resolution powder diffraction beamline at Diamond Light Source, I11. The BAG offers regular (~every 1-2 months) access to the beamline and is a joint application from several research groups in the Universities of Oxford and Warwick. Users of the BAG have an opportunity to take their own samples to Diamond Light Source and collect data as part of a small team over a 24 hour window.

Part II projects

There are a range of Part II projects involving the analysis of complex data gathered by the IMC and the construction of robust structural models for such data. Areas of particular interest are the interpretation of diffraction patterns of stacking faulted materials, temperature driven phase transitions, and the structure-property link in layered crystal structures. Part II projects can arranged as a full supervision – mainly involving analysis and modelling, or joint supervision with one of the supervisors of the solid state groups – involving a mixture of analysis and synthesis.

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Esther Cavett

Stipendiary Lecturer at Somerville College; Senior Research Fellow, Kings College London

Esther Cavett Stipendiary Lecturer at Somerville College; Senior Research Fellow, Kings College London

esther.cavett@some.ox.ac.uk

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Dr Esther Cavett specialises in teaching music theory and analysis to the music students in Somerville College, and is Personal Tutor for Prelims.

Alongside her work at Somerville, she is Tutor in Music at Jesus and Lincoln Colleges, and Oxford Music Faculty Chair. She is also Senior Research Fellow in the music department at King’s College, London, where she co-ordinates the King’s St George’s Academy, which offers small-group, after-school music teaching for children living in Southwark, involving King’s College, London students as teaching assistants.

She set up and now assists in the running of Water City Music, a charity providing access to performance opportunities for musicians of all skills levels, working collaboratively, and she is trustee of The Society of Music Theory (SMA), where she was sponsor the SMA Music Literacy research programme and for the SMA’s widening participation offering generally.

Her recent publications and publications in progress focus on music literacies and pedagogies, the ethics of writing about living composers, and the perception of repetition in the music of English contemporary composer Howard Skempton.

Cavett. E. (in press). Supporting the mentee: Working at the sharp edge, in A practical guide for mentoring music teachers, Ed. S. Houni and M.Wolf, Routledge. (6000 words).

Cavett, E. (2022). Desire, gratification and the moment: A music analytical and psychological enquiry into the role of repetition in the music of Howard Skempton, with a response by the composer. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 47(2), 147-166.

Rivas, J., Sparey, R, Davies, J., Gleason-Mercier, C., Hughes, S., Knights, S, & Cavett, E. (2021). Voices from Southwark: Reflections on a collaborative music teaching project in London in the age of COVID-19. International Journal of Community Music, 14(2-3), 169-189.

Cavett, E. & Head, M. W. (Eds.). (2019). Howard Skempton: Conversations and reflections on music. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer.

Cavett, E. & Head, M. (2017). Review of Edward Klorman, Mozart’s music of friends: Social interplay in the chamber works. Eighteenth Century Music, 14(2), 285-290. doi:10.1017/S1478570617000082

Cavett, E. Dudney, S., & Watts, M. (2016). Supervision for Learning. In C. van Nieuwerburgh, (Ed.), Coaching in Professional Contexts (pp. 213 – 226). London: Sage.

Cavett, E. (1990). A Conspectus of Mozart’s Music [on Mozart’s stylistic development]. In H. C. Robbins Landon, (Ed.), The Mozart Compendium (pp. 206-236). London: Thames and Hudson.

Cavett, E. (1988). Mozart’s ‘Haydn’ Quartets: Composing up and down without rules. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 113(1), 59-80.

Cavett, E. (1988). Mozart’s Codas. Music Analysis, 7(1), 31-53

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Ana Sofia Cerdeira

Retaining Fee Lecturer

Ana Sofia Cerdeira Retaining Fee Lecturer

sofia.cerdeira@wrh.ox.ac.uk

+44 (0)1865 221021

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I am a clinician scientist with a particular interest in pre-eclampsia and angiogenic factors.

We recently conducted the first clinical trial on the use of sFlt-1/PlGF ratio in the management of patients with suspected pre-eclampsia (Cerdeira AS et al. Hypertension 2019). Data from our study and previous observations lead to the development of a protocol that is now used in clinical practice. My aim is to continue exploring the role of angiogenic factors in the prediction, diagnosis and treatment of pre-eclampsia, hopefully leading to meaningful changes in patient care.

News:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/new-blood-test-takes-doubt-out-of-pre-eclampsia-pp5mmv30p

https://www.ouh.nhs.uk/news/article.aspx?id=1058

‘Randomized Interventional Study on Prediction of Preeclampsia/Eclampsia in Women With Suspected Preeclampsia.’
Cerdeira AS. et al, (2019), Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979),

‘Taming preeclampsia at its source’
Cerdeira AS. and Vatish M., (2018), Nature Biotechnology, 36, 1151 – 1152

‘Performance of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1–to–placental growth factor ratio of ≥85 for ruling in preeclampsia within 4 weeks’
Cerdeira AS. et al, (2021), American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 224, 322 – 323

‘In vivo evidence of significant placental growth factor release by normal pregnancy placentas’
Cerdeira AS. et al, (2020), Scientific Reports, 10

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David Chapman

Senior Research Associate, Department of Engineering; Stipendiary Lecturer

David Chapman Senior Research Associate, Department of Engineering; Stipendiary Lecturer

david.chapman@eng.ox.ac.uk

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Dr. David Chapman is a Senior Research Associate in the Solid Mechanics and Materials Engineering group, Department of Engineering Science, Oxford, UK.

David is also a Senior Research Fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford, and currently holds a visiting academic position at Imperial College London. His current research interests involve the development and application of modern diagnostics such as spatially resolved velocimetry, temporally and spatially resolved spectoscopy for temperature measurements, or the the use of advanced x-ray sources to investigate the incipent stages of material failure under extreme conditions.

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Amalia Coldea

Senior Research Fellow; Professor of Physics

Amalia Coldea Senior Research Fellow; Professor of Physics

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I am the Group Leader of the Quantum Matter in High Magnetic Fields and I am a Senior Research Fellow at Somerville College, Oxford.

I am involved with setting up the new Oxford Centre for Applied Superconductivity (CFAS) and its new research activities in Physics. Since 2011 I have been organizing the Oxford Symposium on Quantum Materials combined with an expert visitor programme both funded by the EPSRC as well as a Cafe Scientifique of Quantum Materials dedicated to open discussions on quantum materials.

My research aims to probe experimentally the physics emerging in novel materials as result of the strong correlations between electrons. In particular, my current interest focuses to understand the electronic structure of iron superconductors, metallic systems on magnetically frustrated lattices and topological superconductors by using quantum oscillations. Quantum oscillations probe directly the Fermi surface of metallic systems or novel superconductors in their normal state. These studies provide direct access to the electronic states which are the basis of developing novel theories and help to the development of novel materials with improved properties. I use a variety of sensitive experimental techniques in high magnetic fields and low temperatures to probe new phases of matter in micron size crystalline materials. My research benefits from access to the highest magnetic fields available in the world and strong international collaboration with material scientists, chemists and theoreticians.

Previously, I held independent research positions funded by the EPSRC through a Career Accelaration Fellowship at the University of Oxford and a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship at the University of Bristol and University of Oxford. I was Departmental Lecturer and Post-Doctoral Research Assistant at the University of Oxford, after my PhD in Oxford at the Queen’s College. I was a member of the Superconductivity Group Committee of the Institute of Physics, and the SelCom, EuroMagnet II Selection Committee for access to the high magnetic fields facilities in Europe. My part-time research work has been combined with raising two children.

Strain-tuning of nematicity and superconductivity in single crystals of FeSe
Michele Ghini, Matthew Bristow, Joseph CA Prentice, Samuel Sutherland, Samuele Sanna, Amir A Haghighirad, Amalia I Coldea
Phys. Rev. B 103, 205139 (2021) American Physical Society (2021)

The Key Ingredients of the Electronic Structure of FeSe
Amalia I. Coldea and Matthew D. Watson
Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics 2018 9:1, 125-146

Emergence of the nematic electronic state in FeSe
M. D. Watson, T. K. Kim, A. A. Haghighirad, N. R. Davies, A. McCollam, A. Narayanan, S. F. Blake, Y. L. Chen, S. Ghannadzadeh, A. J. Schofield, M. Hoesch, C. Meingast, T. Wolf, and A. I. Coldea
Phys. Rev. B 91, 155106 – 2015

Linear Magnetoresistance Caused by Mobility Fluctuations in n-Doped Cd3As2
A. Narayanan, M. D. Watson, S. F. Blake, N. Bruyant, L. Drigo, Y. L. Chen, D. Prabhakaran, B. Yan, C. Felser, T. Kong, P. C. Canfield, and A. I. Coldea
Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 117201 – 2015

Evolution of the Fermi Surface of BaFe2(As1−xPx)2 on Entering the Superconducting Dome
H. Shishido, A. F. Bangura, A. I. Coldea, S. Tonegawa, K. Hashimoto, S. Kasahara, P. M. C. Rourke, H. Ikeda, T. Terashima, R. Settai, Y. Ōnuki, D. Vignolles, C. Proust, B. Vignolle, A. McCollam, Y. Matsuda, T. Shibauchi, and A. Carrington
Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 057008 – 2010

Fermi Surface of Superconducting LaFePO Determined from Quantum Oscillations
A. I. Coldea, J. D. Fletcher, A. Carrington, J. G. Analytis, A. F. Bangura, J.-H. Chu, A. S. Erickson, I. R. Fisher, N. E. Hussey, and R. D. McDonald
Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 216402 – 2008

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Ruth Corrigan

Clinical Non-Stipendiary Lecturer

Stephanie Dalley

Senior Research Fellow in Assyriology

Stephanie Dalley Senior Research Fellow in Assyriology

stephanie.dalley@ames.ox.ac.uk

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Stephanie Dalley is a British scholar of the Ancient Near East and Fellow of the Institute for Ancient and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES), where she taught Akkadian and Sumerian for almost three decades.

She is best known for her investigation into the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and her proposal that it was situated in Nineveh and constructed during the rule of Sennacherib. Her other achievements include her work on the Sealand Dynasty.

2012 The City of Babylon: A History c.2000BC to AD116

2017 ‘Gilgamesh and heroes at Troy: myth, history and education’, ed Sherratt, Archaeology and Homeric Epic Oxbow 116-134

2017 ‘The natural world in ancient Mesopotamian literature’ eds Parham and Westling, A Global History of Literature and the Environment, 21-36

2017 ‘Of arches, vaults and domes’ eds. Heffron, Stone and Worthington, At the Dawn of History. Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honour of J.N.Postgate, 127-131

2021 ‘The City of Babylon A History c.2000BC to AD116’

Podcasts on Historyhits and elsewhere

2017 ‘The cuneiform inscription found at Tas-Silgπ (Malta), banded agate, “targets” and “cushions” ‘. eds Mizzi, Vella and Zammit, Ancient Near Eastern Studies supplement 50, in honour of A.Frendo, 21-28

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Vilma de Gasperin

Retaining Fee Lecturer

Joanna Demaree-Cotton

Fulford Junior Research Fellow; Research Fellow in Moral Psychology, Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics

Joanna Demaree-Cotton Fulford Junior Research Fellow; Research Fellow in Moral Psychology, Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics

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Joanna is a Research Fellow in Moral Psychology at the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics.

Her research focuses on various questions at the intersection of ethics and psychology. She uses interdisciplinary methods from analytic philosophy and empirical psychology to investigate the psychological underpinnings of moral judgments, moral concepts and moral agency, and to explore implications of this for normative questions in philosophical ethics. Recently, she has been working on a project on the folk concept of valid consent, which examines the role of the concepts of autonomy and consent in ordinary moral reasoning, and considers implications of these findings for applied questions in the ethics of consent. Other topics of research include: the effects of framing and nudges on autonomy and valid consent; blame and moral responsibility, especially in contexts of impaired agency; the implications of psychology and neuroscience for moral epistemology and moral debunking; moral intuitions and metaphilosophy; the psychology and ethics of moral dilemmas; and others.

Joanna joined the Uehiro Centre after receiving her PhD in Philosophy from Yale University with a dissertation entitled “The Philosophy and Psychology of Valid Consent”. She was also a Newcombe Fellow in the study of ethical values with the Woodrow Wilson foundation. She received her B.Phil in Philosophy and her B.A. in Philosophy and Psychology from the University of Oxford. During her time at Yale, as well as conducting doctoral research, she developed an undergraduate course on the ethics of technology, and taught various undergraduate courses on applied and normative ethics, the psychology and philosophy of human nature, and introductions to the history of philosophy.

Selected Publications

Autonomy and the folk concept of valid consent. Demaree-Cotton J, Sommers R. July 2022. Journal article. Cognition
How to use AI ethically for ethical decision-making. Demaree-Cotton J, Earp BD, Savulescu J. June 2022. Journal article. American Journal of Bioethics
Autonomy and the Folk Concept of Valid Consent. Demaree-Cotton J, Sommers R. February 2022. Journal article.
Blame mitigation: A less tidy take and its philosophical implications. Daigle JL, Demaree-Cotton J November 2021. Journal article. Philosophical Psychology
Experimental philosophical bioethics. Earp BD, Demaree-Cotton J, Dunn M, Dranseika V, Everett JAC, Feltz A, Geller G, Hannikainen IR, Jansen LA, Knobe J, Kolak J, Latham S et. al. February 2020. Journal article. AJOB Empirical Bioethics

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Clea Desebrock

Stipendiary Lecturer

Clea Desebrock Stipendiary Lecturer

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In my research I investigate whether our actions (e.g. arm movements) can be influenced by social biases known to enhance our attention, perception, decision-making, and memory.

I also investigate self-prioritization in the context of multisensory processing. I use multisensory tasks (i.e. using audiovisual stimuli) to investigate effects across both the auditory and visual systems. My project aims to increase our understanding of self-bias in action. Ultimately, the aim is to lay the groundwork for future translational work exploring social bias effects in applied settings (e.g. in stroke rehabilitation, sports performance, or sensory marketing/consumer psychology).

I combine behavioural experimental techniques from Cognitive Psychology (e.g. mental chronometry) with functional neuroimaging (e.g. EEG, which records brain activity) to understand the brain processes underlying the behavioural effects.

Before starting my DPhil research, I worked as a Research Assistant in the Cognitive Neuropsychology Centre (CNC), and as a Laboratory Demonstrator in Neuroanatomy and Perception, here at the Department of Experimental Psychology. I have expertise in running transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) studies, gained while working at the CNC.

I also have a background in music and sound production, and alongside my academic research have engineered/consulted on sound for departmental academic research projects.

I am based at the Crossmodal Research Laboratory supervised by Professor Charles Spence and Dr Ayla Barutchu. I was previously based at the CNC, supervised by Professor Glyn Humphreys.

Selected Publications

Desebrock, C., Barutchu, A., & Spence. C. (2022). The influence of empathy and perceived closeness on self- and friend-biases in arm-movements. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance.

Desebrock, C., Spence. C., & Barutchu, A. (2022). Self-prioritization with unisensory and multisensory stimuli in a matching task. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics.

Desebrock, C., & Spence. C. (2021). The Self-Prioritization Effect: Self-referential processing in movement highlights modulation at multiple stages. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 83(6), 2656-2674

Graven, T., & Desebrock, C. (2021). Touching and hearing the shapes: How auditory angular and curved sounds influence proficiency in recognising tactile angle and curve shapes when experienced and inexperienced in using haptic touch. British Journal of Visual Impairment.

Graven, T., & Desebrock, C. (2019). Investigating the effect of visual imagery and learning shape-audio regularities on bouba and kiki. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 151. e59954

Desebrock, C. (2019). The power of our names, faces, and the Self-Reference Effect: is there more than meets the eye? The Quarterly, 111, 17-19

Desebrock, C., Sui, J., & Spence, C. (2018). Self-reference in action: Arm-movement responses are enhanced in perceptual matching. Acta Psychologica, 190, 258-266.

Graven, T., & Desebrock, C. (2018). Bouba or kiki with and without vision: Shape-audio regularities and mental images. Acta Psychologica, 188, 200-212.

Desebrock, C., Sui, J., & Spence, C. (2016). The power of self-reference in action: Prioritized processing of self-relevant stimuli extends from perception to response execution. Perception, 45, 65-66.

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Georgia Drew

Fulford Junior Research Fellow; Postdoctoral Researcher in Zoology

Georgia Drew Fulford Junior Research Fellow; Postdoctoral Researcher in Zoology

georgia.drew@biology.ox.ac.uk

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My research lies in asking how do free-living entities, with independent evolutionary agendas, come to associate and depend on one another? My work focuses on microbial symbionts and the drivers that underpin transitions along the diverse symbiosis continuum. Particularly, I am interested in how factors such as host sociality, coinfecting microbes, and transmission route may affect the evolution of symbiotic interactions.

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Maria Caiazza

Simon Cassidy

Esther Cavett

Ana Sofia Cerdeira

David Chapman

Amalia Coldea

Ruth Corrigan

Stephanie Dalley

Vilma de Gasperin

Joanna Demaree-Cotton

Clea Desebrock

Georgia Drew

A Brief History of Somerville

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