Eamonn Reading - Group leader
Eamonn obtained his MSci in Chemistry from the University of Bristol, where he performed research with Dr Wuge Briscoe and Dr Gareth Owen. He then went on to obtain a DPhil at the University of Oxford within the laboratory of Professor Dame Carol Robinson in 2015. Eamonn joined King's College London as a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Paula Booth’s group in 2015 and was awarded a BBSRC Future Leader (now called Discovery) Fellow between 2016-19. In 2019, Eamonn became a Lecturer in Chemical Biology, starting his independent research group, and Senior Lecturer in 2022. Eamonn is now a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and Associate Professor in Molecular Biosciences at the University of Southampton.
Jakub Sys - Research associate
Jakub achieved an undergraduate degree in Forensic Analysis from the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague in 2016. In next two years, he continued with a master degree in Clinical Bioanalytics joining the mass spectrometry group of Prof. Radovan Hynek. In 2018, Jakub started his PhD, under Prof. Tomáš Ruml, focused on structural investigation of proteins of Retroviruses by mass spectrometric methods. In years 2020-2023, Jakub worked also as a research assistant at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague in a group of Associate Prof. Josef Cvačka. There he focused on an implementation of MS-based structural methods, such as protein covalent crosslinking and deuterium exchange, which were then subsequently applied in various type of projects and collaborations. Jakub joined the Reading lab in 2023 as an Eli Lilly Research Award Program postdoctoral researcher.
Mahjoobeh Ehsani - Research associate
Mahjoobeh achieved an undergraduate degree in Pure Chemistry 2005 from University of Mazandaran, Iran continued with a master’s degree over the next three years, joining the chromatography and separation science group of Prof. Mohammad R. Hadjmohammadi. In 2011, they started their PhD, under Prof. Mohammad J. Chaichi, focused on chemiluminescence assays and immobilization of biorecognition elements on nanocomposites for biosensors. In years 2015-2021, Mahjoobeh worked as a QC and R&D researcher for recombinant protein and antibody purification and characterisation in the pharmaceutical industry. Followed by years 2021-2023 within Prof. Alireza Ghassempour lab at Shahid Beheshti University for protein characterisation using mass spectrometry methods. In 2023, Mahjoobeh moved to the KU Leuven University (Rega Institute) where they worked as a postdoc researcher in Prof. Tassos Economou’s lab to study proteins structural dynamics using HDX-MS method. Mahjoobeh joined the Reading lab in 2025 as a UKRI-funded postdoctoral researcher.
Alistair Bailey - Research associate (w/ Jonathan West Lab)
Alistair obtained a BTEC ND in Audio-Visual Production at Bournemouth & Poole College of Art & Design in 1994, before working as a television engineer in London. He continued part-time from 2004 to 2012 while studying for a BEng in Civil Engineering at the University of Southampton, awarded in 2008. He then completed a PhD in Computational Immunology under Professor Tim Elliott in 2013. From 2013 to 2023, Alistair remained at Southampton as a postdoctoral researcher with Professors Tim Elliott and Paul Skipp, working on immunopeptidomics and proteomics projects in cancer and infectious disease. From 2023 to 2025 he stepped away from research to work as a Learning Technologist supporting the University Library. Alistair returned to research in 2025, joining the West and Reading labs as a BBSRC-funded postdoctoral researcher, continuing the development of Assoc. Prof. Jonathan West's microfluidic devices that seek to increase the biological complexity, scale and speed of HDX-MS experiments.
Polina Heatley - PhD graduate student
Polina achieved her MSci in Chemistry with Biomedicine from King’s College London in 2022. She completed her final year research project within the Reading lab, using a phage display platform for the directed evolution of a protein tag. Following her undergraduate degree, Polina worked as a medical and scientific reviewer within the pharmaceutical industry, which sparked her interest in antibiotic resistance. Polina joined the Reading group in 2023 on a University of Southampton studentship. Her project will focus on membrane protein efflux pump dynamics in biofilm formation and multidrug resistance.
Di Zhu - PhD graduate student
Di Zhu obtained his Bachelor's degree from South China Agricultural University. He then pursued a master's degree at the Integrative Microbiology Research Centre, where he joined the research focused on the synthesis of small-molecule compounds and their target identification. During the master's degree, he developed a particular interest in tracing target proteins. In autumn 2025, Di Zhu was awarded the Chinese Government Scholarship for Doctoral Studies (CSC Scholarship) to join the Reading lab. He will dedicate his doctoral research to investigating multidrug efflux mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance using chemical biology approaches.
Millie Lewis - PhD graduate student
Millie graduated with an MSci in Biochemistry from the University of Southampton in 2026. For her final-year project, she used NMR spectroscopy to investigate the cancer-related interaction between a splicing factor and potential regulatory lipids. After completing her MSci, Millie joined the Reading lab in 2026 to continue her academic journey at Southampton. Her PhD project, a University of Southampton studentship in partnership with Syngenta and Gerald Kerkut Trust, will investigate membrane proteins from plants and insects, with the aim of supporting the development of new herbicides and insecticides, addressing resistance, and contributing to global food security.
Benjamin Sheppard - Master of Science student
Benjamin is pursuing an Integrated Masters in Biomedical Science. In his third year, under the guidance of Dr Jan Janouskovec, Benjamin designed a theoretical inhibitor for phosphoenolpyruvate mutase in Trypanosoma Cruzi. Hypothetically, the inhibitor disrupted an essential phosphonate synthesis pathway that is entirely absent in humans. Benjamin has joined the Reading group as of 2026 where during his Masters project he will be working within the team to optimise HDX-MS data interpretation to better define dynamical areas within protein structures for improved early stage drug discovery pipelines, particularly in the areas of bacterial multidrug amd antibiotic resistance.
Previous group members
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Tom Rose - MRes, 2025-26. Next steps: PhD within Prof Myriam Charpentier's group at John Innes Centre, UK
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Ryan Lawrence - PhD, 2021-25. Next steps: Postdoc within Dr Dorothy Zhao's group at University College London, UK
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Dietmar Hammerschmid - Postdoc, 2019-25. Next steps: Senior Scientist at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt, Germany
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Henry Hayward - MSci Student, 2024-25. Next steps: Further education
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Benjamin Russell Lewis - PhD Student, 2019-23. Next steps: Postdoc within Prof Paula Booth's group at King's College London, UK
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Valeria Calvaresi - Postdoc, 2022-23. Next steps: Wellcome Early-Career Fellow at the University of Oxford, UK
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Chloe Bailey - PhD, 2021-23. Next steps: PhD within Dr Antoni Borysik's group at King's College London, UK
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Laila Shah - MSci Student, 2020-21. Next steps: PhD at Prof Justin Benesch's group at University of Oxford, UK
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Tim Gemeinhardt - Erasmus+ Student, 2019-20. Next steps: PhD within Prof Nicole Francis’ group at the Montreal CRI, Canada
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Tabasom Haghighi - Summer Student, 2018. Next steps: PhD within Prof Molly Stevens group at Imperial College London, UK