Professor Simon Newstead
Simon Newstead is a British structural biochemist who pioneered structural and functional studies of membrane proteins, in particular the SLC proteins that transport drugs and metabolites across cell membranes. After earning a PhD at the University of St Andrews, Scotland and completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Imperial College, London, he established his own research group in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford. His work focuses on the mechanisms of pH-driven drug and metabolite transport systems relevant to human health and disease. In 2022, he was appointed to the David Phillips Chair in Molecular Biophysics and now leads the structural biology research theme within Oxford Biochemistry.
Simon is internationally recognised for establishing the mechanisms underlying peptide, amino acid, vitamin, and hormone transport through SLC transporters. His recent research has expanded to examine the roles of SLC proteins in cellular communication and protein trafficking, with a focus on neurodegeneration, inflammation, cancer, and chronic pain. Since 2014, Simon has been a Wellcome Investigator. ORCID.
Dr Jo Parker: Senior Scientist, Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery
Jo is a senior scientist in the Department of Biochemistry and is currently the project lead on a BBSRC-funded grant to understand the rules governing organic anion transport in the human body at the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery. Jo is internationally recognised for her pioneering development of liposome-based biochemical assays for uncovering the mechanisms of SLC transporters. ORCID.
Dr Gabriel Kuteyi: Research Scientist
Gabriel joined the group in 2014 after completing his PhD with Professor Roslyn Bill at Aston University in Birmingham. Gabriel is currently the manager of our tissue culture suite and researchers novel methods for eukaryotic membrane protein production. He works on several projects supporting protein production and QC.
Dr Oliver Adams: Research Associate
Oliver joined the Newstead lab in 2017 as a BBSRC Interdisciplinary Biosciences DTP student researching the structural characterisation of transporters involved in infectious disease, especially those from M. tuberculosis. In 2021 Oli joined the group as a Research Associate researching proton coupled transporters in health and disease.
Mr Sigurbjörn Markusson: Wellcome Cellular Structural Biology Student
Sigurbjörn is a Wellcome Trust-funded DPhil student in Cellular Structural Biology who joined the group in 2021 to study the structure and function of lysosomal ion channels, and their role in health and disease. Previously, he conducted a BSc study at the University of Iceland, focusing on elucidating the reaction mechanism of Vibrio alkaline phosphatase using X-ray crystallography, and an MSc degree at the University of Bergen, Norway, where he studied the structure of Arc and CNPase, using nanobodies as crystallisation chaperones. ORCID
Ms Abby Lin: Wellcome Cellular Structural Biology Student
Abby joined the Newstead group in 2021 as a Wellcome Trust funded Dphil Student in Cellular Structural Biology, focusing on lysosomal membrane transporters. She obtained her B.Sc. in Chemistry-Biology Combined Major Program in Osaka University, Japan, and studied structures of engineered Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 mutants with enhanced affinity toward the SARS-CoV2 spike protein in Junichi Takagi Lab.
Mr. Jude Tunyi: NIH-Oxford Scholar DPhil student
Jude joined the group in 2022 as an NIH-Oxford Scholar DPhil student studying the structure, function and trafficking of SLC transporters with computational models and experiments. Previously, he obtained a BSc degree in Biochemistry from the University of Washington. He is also a medical student attending The Ohio State College of Medicine for his medical degree. Jude is co-supervised with Dr. Lucy Forrest at the National Institutes of Health as part of the NIH OxCam program.
Dr Chitra Joshi: Research Associate
Chitra joined the group in 2022 as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate, funded by Wellcome Trust. Her research focusses on the structural characterization of H. sapiens PCFT transporter and its role in cancer biology. She was awarded prestigious Commonwealth Doctoral Scholarship to complete her PhD (Life Sciences) from University of Warwick, UK in the lab of Richard Napier and Alex Cameron researching the structure of plant auxin transporter AUX1. Previously, she obtained M.Sc. Plant Biotechnology (University Gold Medallist) from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, India investigating genetic diversity within Eleusine species using molecular markers for the thesis project. ORCID.
Anuja joined the lab in 2024 as a BBSRC Interdisciplinary Bioscience DTP-iCASE student. Her research focuses on understanding amino acid transport through the SLC7 family of transporters via structural and functional studies in collaboration with OMass Therapeutics. She earned her BSc degree in Microbiology from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, India, and an MSc in Pharmacology from the University of Oxford, where she studied the metabolic profiles of cell-based models of Niemann Pick Disease Type C using NMR spectroscopy, supervised by Prof. Frances Platt and Dr. Fay Probert. Additionally, she worked as a research assistant at ARUK-ODDI, developing functional assays for compound screening and characterisation.
Martyna joined the group in 2025 as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate, funded by the Wellcome Trust. Her research focuses on studying the cellular function of the transmembrane proteins involved in ER homeostasis. She conducted her PhD research at the University of Wroclaw in the group of Dr. Małgorzata Zakrzewska, where she studied the extracellular function and secretion of FHF proteins. Previously, she obtained her M.Sc. in Protein Biotechnology at the University of Wroclaw and identified novel partner proteins of FGF2 and studied its effect on apoptosis. ORCID.
Jack joined the group in 2025 as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate studying trafficking receptors. He completed his BSc in medicinal chemistry at the University of Sydney, Australia. He then went on to conduct his PhD at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute under A/Prof Alastair Stewart studying the structure and function of drug transporters. ORCID.
Angqi joined the Newstead lab in 2025 as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate, funded by BBSRC. His research focuses on using structural biology and AI for structure-based drug design targeting Solute Carrier proteins. He earned his PhD at Tsinghua University, China, where he researched the cryo-EM structure and functional mechanisms of the GABA transporter GAT1 in Chuangye Yan’s lab. ORCID.