Laksha Parameswaran

Biography:

During her undergraduate degree, Laksha started to get involved with the Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering at Leeds. This peaked her interest in nanoparticles and therapeutics development. Laksha’s master’s helped her understand and gave her hands-on experience in chemical engineering and manufacturing processes. During a project with Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies she became aware of the challenges in the manufacturing industries. This prompted Laksha to apply for the CP3 CDT. She would like to contribute in the area of manufacturing, preferably pharmaceutical products. Laksha is keen on developing novel lab-scale techniques that are easily transferrable to larger scale manufacturing.

PhD: Crystallisation Behaviour of Epicuticular Waxes for Improved Crop Performances

Plant cuticles are a hydrophobic layer that covers the surface of leaves providing protection against desiccation and external environmental stresses. It comprises of the cutin, intracuticular wax and epicuticular wax film. It has been well-established that the intracuticular wax alone forms the barrier that prevents loss of water. In some species, it prevents loss of water at higher temperature, whereas in other species the permeance increases. The mechanism of water loss through this hydrophobic layer is still unsure as there not any water transport channels across the surface. Preliminary work done at the University of Würzburg have shown that this wax exhibits crystalline behaviour under atmospheric ambient temperature which disappears at higher temperatures (80 to 90°C). The relationship of this phase change and transpiration has also not been established.
A main hypothesis being the “brick and mortar” model, where the crystalline phase of very-long-chain aliphatic compounds in the intracuticular wax acts as “bricks” and the amorphous phase allows water to escape. This collaborative project with the University of Würzburg and Syngenta will initially study the phase changing behaviour of the intracuticular wax of a specific species of plant called Schefflera elegantissima as GC – MS/FID analysis have been able to elucidate the major components and their mass fraction of the intracuticular wax. An artificial model of the major components will be tested under external stresses such as varying temperature, and natural and synthetic additives to understand how they modify crystallisation. Further studies will also be performed to understand how minor components contribute to this phenomenon. Future research plans include studying the correlation between humidity and transpiration on natural and synthetic intracuticular waxes.

Research Project(s) during degree:

• MSc Research Project: ‘Downstream Processing and Purification of double-stranded RNA – Industrial Bioprocessing and Biomanufacturing’with Professor Mark Dickman, Dept. of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield
  Currently, extensive research and investments are focused on exploiting the RNAi phenomenon to produce promising therapeutics for rare, genetic disorders and non-toxic insecticides for food crops. The project focused on developing novel purification methods that are feasible to apply in the industry, as current methods are expensive, time-consuming and labour-intensive.
• BSc Research project: ‘Computer modelling of the Human V-ATPase to analyse putative regulatory sites and inhibition mechanism’ with Dr Mike Harrison, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Leeds
  The V-ATPase are nano-motor, ion channels present in every eukaryotic cell. They have been implied in many disorders, including cancer. They have been difficult to isolate and study due to their complex physicochemical properties. The project concentrated on modelling them in silico to study and manipulate its properties to develop effective drug particles.

Industrial experience/placements:

• Oct 2015- May 2016: Shadow Research Assistant for a PhD student undertaking a bio-engineering project which studied novel synthetic matrixes with tissue regenerative properties for spinal cord injury

Outreach, training and other activities:

• Academic Achievement Award
• Oct 2014- May 2016 University of Leeds Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) Leader

Masters research project in year 1 of CDT:

• ‘Crystallisation in confined spaces using reactions in double emulsions’ with Dr David York, Chemical & Process Engineering