About us

Our role 

• Servicing, repairing, replacing equipment. 
• Provision of core funded generic consumables.
• Oversee implementation of health and safety procedures, ensure good laboratory practice and efficient working environment.  
• Liaise with collection management teams and provide interface between molecular biology and collections.
• Input into grant/contract budgets to ensure all appropriate costs are met.
• Allocation of laboratory space for staff and visitors, based on criteria agreed by Molecular biology committee.
• Provision of technical advice and training to research scientists and students, both staff and visitors.
• Draw up major capital equipment bids.

Mr Stephen Russell

Senior Laboratory Manager of the Molecular laboratories overseeing all three laboratories. Steve is responsible for the management and strategic direction of all three molecular laboratories.

Ms Alex Aitken

Laboratory Manager overseeing the day-to-day running of the DC lab, Alex is responsible for procurement of consumables, inductions, teaching, and expert training in molecular biology techniques.  Alex is the contact for all DC2 user enquiries about training, support and troubleshooting.

Mrs Ranbir Bailey 

Laboratory Manager oversees the day-to-day running of the basement lab including  induction & training, and health & safety. Responsible for the procurement, succession, replacement and auditing of small equipment and the planning & organisation of service & maintenance contracts, Ranbir is the contact for all Whale Basement Lab user enquiries.

Ms Julia Llewellyn-Hughes

DNA Sequencing Facility Manager overseeing the day-to-day running of the sequencing lab and providing expertise in the techniques, troubleshooting and analysis of DNA sequencing. Julia is the contact for all sequencing enquiries including training, support and troubleshooting.

Ms Patricia Dyal

Research Assistant providing bench support and produces data for allocated research projects. She provides training to staff, students and visitors as well as troubleshooting technical problems and methodology development. Pat is also the Departmental Radiation Protection Supervisor.

Mrs Andie Hall

Research Assistant providing bench support and producing data for allocated research projects. Andie provides training to staff, students and visitors as well as troubleshooting technical problems. She is also the first point of contact for the Janus pipetting robot and the Molecular laboratories web-pages.

Miss Claire Griffin

DNA Sequencing Technician, responsible for the efficient daily running of the Museums Sequencing Facility. Providing technical support and expertise in all aspects of, DNA Sequencing, Fragment Analysis and to wider initiatives such as the Bar Coding Project. Claire provides training to students and visitors as well as troubleshooting technical problems and quality control. 

 Mr Kevin Hopkins

Barcoding Technician generating DNA barcode data for inclusion in the Barcode of Life Database. The barcoding pipeline covers the management and submission of specimen related data, including sequence data, as well as lab work from extraction through to sequencing.

Ms Jacqueline Mackenzie-Dodds

Molecular collections facility manager Overseeing the day-to-day running of the molecular collections, responsible for procurement, succession and replacement of small equipment items, service and maintenance contracts, molecular collections and Health and Safety protocols. She is the contact for all user enquiries about collections facility.