Phd- Food science 5 次浏览

PERSONAL STATEMENT
I have over ten years’ experience working as a research student in research laboratories across three different universities and countries. During my PhD, I have successfully cloned, produced and purified stable wildtype and mutant V. Vinifera polyphenol oxidases (PPOs) using the Escherichia coli expression system. I also successfully extracted, purified and characterised grape PPO from New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc grapes. My biggest achievement involved the identification of a side reaction that affects the accuracy of a spectrophotometry technique that is widely-used in both academia and industry, and the development of a new analytical method to study and quantify an enzyme-catalysed oxidation reaction.
EDUCATION
Jun 2013-May 2018 Doctor of Philosophy in Food Science
Supervisor: Dr Ivanhoe Leung
School of Chemical Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Thesis title: Biochemical characterisation of polyphenol oxidase
Sep 2011-Dec 2012 Master of Science in Food Science and Nutrition
Supervisor: Dr Santosh Khokhar
School of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Thesis title: Dietary Patterns of Minority Ethnic Groups in the UK
Sep 2007-Jul 2011 Bachelor of Engineering in Food Quality and Safety (First Honours Degree)
Supervisor: Dr Hanxue Hou
School of Food Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, China
Thesis title: Different Effects of Sugars’ Types on Cookies’ Brittleness
TECHNICAL SKILLS
 Expert in molecular biology: cloning, transformation, expression and purification of recombinant plant proteins in Escherichia coli cells, agarose gel electrophoresis (DNA).
 Expert in protein extraction and purification techniques: AKTA column chromatography, dialysis (salting-out) of proteins, lyophilization (freeze-drying) of proteins, and gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE and native PAGE).
 Excellent skills in using techniques: NMR spectroscopy, thermal shift assay, UV/Vis spectrophotometry, PCR technique, Fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC), Cyclic voltammetry, gas chromatography (GC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS).
 Experienced on extraction and purification of grape (Sauvignon Blanc, Vitis vinifera) polyphenol oxidase and isolation of grape (Sauvignon Blanc, Vitis vinifera) leaves RNA.
 Good skills in enzyme kinetics, enzyme inhibition, novel inhibitors/drug discovery.
 Experienced on testing antioxidant capacity of food and beverage.
 Proficient in scientific software, including BioEdit, Bio-Rad iQ5, Bruker TopSpin, ChemDraw, Chromas, Discovery Studio, Microsoft Excel, OriginPro, prism, Pymol, and SigmaPlot.
EXPERIENCE
May 2018 Awarded on R&D Career Grants for PhD graduate by Callaghan Innovation in New Zealand
Oct 2016 Invited for Overseas Experts and advanced talents cooperation conference in China
Feb-Jul 2016 Teaching assistant on Course FOODSCI 301-Food Quality Attributes.
Nov 2015 Won free registration at the ANZMAG conference 2015 in New Zealand
Oct 2015 Signed as a model for promotional materials by the University of Auckland
Mar 2015 Won Best Poster Research NMR prize in School of Chemical Sciences Centenary Celebration at University of Auckland in New Zealand
Jul-Oct 2014 Teaching assistant on Course FOODSCI 304-Food Product Development.
2014 Membership at New Zealand Institute of Chemistry (NZIC)
2013 Membership at New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology Inc. (NZIFST)
Sep-Dec 2012 Research assistant on CHANCE project at the University of Leeds in United Kingdom
PUBLICATIONS
Li, Y.; Zafar, A.; Kilmartin, P. A.; Reynisson, J.; Leung, I. K., Development and Application of an NMR‐Based Assay for Polyphenol Oxidases. ChemistrySelect 2017, 2 (32), 10435-10441.
Li, Y.; Middleditch, M. J.; Morrow, S. J.; Kilmartin, P. A.; Leung, I. K. H., Vitis vinifera polyphenol oxidase: production, purification and characterisation. Manuscript submitted.
Huang, R.; Ayine-Tora, D. M.; Rosdi, M. N. M.; Li, Y.; Reynisson, J.; Leung, I. K., Virtual screening and biophysical studies lead to HSP90 inhibitors. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters 2017, 27 (2), 277-281.
Hanauer, T.; Hopkinson, R. J.; Patel, K.; Li, Y.; Correddu, D.; Kawamura, A.; Sarojini, V.; Leung, I. K.; Gruber, T., Selective recognition of the di/trimethylammonium motif by an artificial carboxycalixarene receptor. Organic & biomolecular chemistry 2017, 15 (5), 1100-1105.

Referees: available upon request