Dana Aghabi
PhD Student
Dana initially joined the Harding Lab as a research technician in January 2020 – August 2021. She triumphantly returned in June 2022 as a Wellcome-funded PhD student. Her work will focus on understanding iron transporters, both in the parasite and in host cells.
Erin Gibson
PhD Student
Erin obtained her BSc(Hons) in Biomedical Science and MSc in Experimental Medicine from Queen’s University Belfast. Her work investigates the role of copper during the innate immune response, and pathogen defense mechanisms. This is explored using two model pathogens through the NorthWestBio PhD programe, studying Toxoplasma gondii and Legionella pneumophila with Dr Gunnar Schroeder in Queens University Belfast.
Jack Hanna
Postdoctoral Researcher
Jack completed his undergraduate degree in Pharmacology at the University of Dundee and then stayed to complete an MRC funded PhD studying Cryptosporidium. Working in the labs of Dr Mattie Pawlowic and Dr Susan Wyllie, Jack established tools to help identify the targets of emerging Cryptosporidium drugs.
Jack joined the group in 2023 and is trying to using proteomic techniques to better understand which Toxoplasma proteins interact with iron and how the proteome changes in different iron conditions.
Lucas Pagura
Postdoctoral Researcher
After obtaining his undergraduate degree in Biotechnology from the University of Rosario, Argentina, Lucas pursued his doctoral studies at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of Rosario. Under the supervision of Dr. Julia Cricco, his research focused on investigating heme transport in Trypanosoma cruzi.
Following the completion of his PhD, Lucas embarked on a postdoctoral fellowship at Barbara Burleigh’s lab at Harvard School of Public Health in 2019. During this period, he explored the intricacies of lipid metabolism in Trypanosoma cruzi, with a specific emphasis on fatty acid synthesis and scavenging. In 2023, Lucas made a transition to the Harding lab, where he assumed a new role as a researcher associate. His current research endeavors revolve around comprehending the mechanisms underlying metal ion transportation into Toxoplasma gondii, as well as the regulatory factors governing this process.
.
Megan Sloan
Early Career Research Fellow
After gaining her BSc in Biological Sciences, from the University of Bath, Megan completed her DPhil in the labs of Prof. Petros Ligoxygakis and Prof. Keith Gull at the University of Oxford. Her project investigated the interactions between Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies) and the trypanosomatid parasite Herpetomonas muscarum. After sequencing the parasite genome, Megan used transcriptomics to identify genes from both host and parasite which were critical to the outcome of infection.
Megan joined the Harding group as a postdoc in January 2020. She is currently interested in how Toxoplasma gondii acquires iron from its host, and how gene expression in the parasite changes in response to local iron concentration
Yue Lan
Research Technician
Yue completed her undergraduate in Microbiology and master in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Glasgow. Her first parasitology trip started in Andy Waters’s lab on Plasmodium and then continued her 6-month master’s project on the role of a putative copper transporter in Toxoplasma in the Harding lab. In October 2025, Yue re-joined Harding’s lab as Meg’s technician working on alternative splicing and RNA-binding proteins.
Clare Harding
Clare completed her PhD in microbiology at Imperial College London before moving to the University of Glasgow as a postdoc in the lab of Markus Messiner. Here she began work on the parasite cytoskeleton, specifically the protein-rivets that join disparate elements of the cell together. After two years and gaining a Sir Henry Wellcome fellowship, she moved to the Whitehead Institute at MIT under the guidance of Sebastian Lourido. While there, Clare learned a number of valuable technical skills and was able to indulge her love of microscopy.
In 2019 Clare was awarded a Sir Henry Dale fellowship to allow her to move back to the University of Glasgow, and the Wellcome center, to start her own group, focusing on the parasite’s use of iron.
Previous Lab Members
Lucia Mrvova
Current PhD student in lab of Lucy Glover (Institute Pasture)
Lucia moved to Paris to study Trypanosomes with Lucy Glover.
Elena Hartmann
Current PhD student in lab of Joana Young (University of Edinburgh)
Elena moved across the country to start her PhD in the Young lab on the chronic form of Toxoplasma.
Grace Gill
Current PhD student in the lab of Richard McCulloch
After a year as a technician in the Harding lab, Grace moved down the hall to start a PhD with Richard McCulloch in August 2022. We will miss her, but at least she is not moving far!
Cecilia Gallego Rubio
Current PhD student at University of Oxford
Cecilia moved back to London to finish her degree after completing her year in industry. She had a very successful project and we wish her well for the future.
Older Lab Pictures
Harding Lab 