Team

Dhanya K. Cheerambathur

Dhanya is a Sir Henry Dale Fellow at the Wellcome Centre for Biology. Dhanya obtained her PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology from the University of California, Davis in the lab of Jonathan Scholey and later moved to University of California, San Diego to pursue her postdoctoral studies with Arshad Desai. She has been at the University of Edinburgh since May 2018.

Ava Benbow

Ava completed her BSc in Molecular Biology at the University of St Andrews, followed by her MRes in Biomedical Sciences with specialism in Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Glasgow. She joined the lab as a Research Assistant in March 2025 and is researching the role of kinetochore proteins in neurodevelopment.

Stephen Bradley

Stephen completed his BSc and MSc at the University of Sheffield and the Sheffield Institute of Translational Neuroscience, respectively. In 2020, he moved to Edinburgh to complete his PhD in the Lab of Dies Meijer, focusing on novel mechanisms of myelination in the peripheral nervous system. Stephen joined the lab in June 2025. His main focus is on determining the non-canonical role of kinetochore proteins, using human iPSC motoneuron models.

Henrique Alves Domingos

Henrique completed his MSc in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Manchester and joined the lab as a PhD Student in October 2021. His research focuses on the role of the kinetochore proteins in the dendritic branching of PVD neurons.

Mattie Green

Mattie has an MSc in integrative neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh, and joined the lab as a Research Assistant in November 2018. She is researching the role of kinetochore proteins in establishing C. elegans nervous system architecture.

Petra zur Lage

I began my research career studying Drosophila during my PhD, focusing most recently on motile cilia in the Drosophila antennae, which are essentially modified dendrites. I have since transitioned to a new model organism, C. elegans. After a steep learning curve, I am now enjoying working with these “wriggly worms”. My current project involves examining a centromeric protein, exploring whether it plays a role in post-mitotic neurons.

Ben Lawrence

Ben finished his Integrated Masters Degree in Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, and then went on to complete a Summer Internship with the Lister Institute of Regenerative Medicine, looking at zebrafish bipolar cell dendrite connectomics. He started a PhD in the lab in June 2025, researching dendrite patterning in C. elegans.

Lucy Mucklow

Lucy joined the lab as a Research Assistant in April 2025. She completed her BSc in Natural Sciences from University of Cambridge in 2024. Her research in the Cheerambathur Lab is on the role of kinetochore proteins in axon termination.

Vasilis Ouzounidis

Vasilis obtained his undergraduate degree at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, before joining the lab as a Research Technician in October 2019. He started his PhD project in the Cheerambathur Lab in October 2020, studying the role of Microtubule Organizing Center (MTOC) proteins during neurodevelopment. He recently obtained his PhD and is now a Postdoctoral Researcher focusing on the role of kinetochore proteins in neurite outgrowth and axon termination.

Beyza Özen

Beyza completed her BSc in Chemistry and Psychology at Koç University and her MSc in Neuroscience at Bilkent University, Turkey. She joined the lab as a PhD Student in October 2022. Her research focuses on the characterization of ageing-associated markers and the role of kinetochore proteins in neuronal ageing.

Ayca Solmaz

Ayca holds an MRes in Brain Sciences from University College London, where her research focused on mitochondrial dysfunction associated with Parkinson’s Disease. She joined the lab as a Research Assistant in 2025, to investigate how kinetochore proteins regulate cytoskeletal dynamics during dendritic development. Her current work explores how kinetochore proteins influence F-actin in mammalian systems. She is broadly interested in the molecular mechanisms driving neural development.

Maria Walker

Maria is an integral part of the Cheerambathur Lab and works as a media technician to help with the preparation of plates and other essential lab reagents.