Laura Reyes Fraile

ESR Project 11

Sixfold Bioscience Ltd., London, United Kingdom

Next-generation Programmable Oligonucleotide Delivery Systems (PODS)

Supervisor

Dr. Anna Perdrix Rosell

Co-Supervisors

Prof. Annemieke Madder, University of Ghent (Academic)

Dr. Sean Hua Lim, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (Clinician)

Prof. Eugen Stulz, University of Southampton (Academic)

Education

Laura Reyes Fraile obtained her BSc in Chemistry at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.

During her Bachelor, she did an internship at the Experimental Bioinformatics Laboratory (EBL) of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, where she was initiated in the chemistry of nucleic acids. In particular, her investigation was part of a project focused on the development of therapeutic RNAs under the supervision of Prof. Orozco. As part of the Final Degree Project, she explored DNA and RNA sequences able to form G-quadruplex structures and their interaction with some drugs, working under the supervision of Prof. Eritja at the CSIC-IQAC, Spain.

After presenting her final degree project, she joined the Molecular Modelling and Bioinformatics group at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona lead by Prof. Orozco. Her investigation combined the study of the effect of different backbone and sugar modifications of nucleic acids on antisense and ARN interference gene modulation mechanisms.

Laura holds a master’s degree in Drug Research, Development and Control from the University of Barcelona, Spain.

Project Description

The aim of this ESR PhD project will be the improvement of PODS technology for the in vivo delivery of ONs. Following the synthesis and incorporating modified nucleotides with predicted biological functions into PODS, Laura will evaluate its effects on physicochemical properties (e.g half-life, assembly yield, charge) and biological activity in vitro and in vivo. Within the project Laura's work will be embedded within the multidisciplinary team at Sixfold who will provide her with the required training.

Secondments

This project is carried out in strong collaboration with the following groups:

Prof. Annemieke Madder, University of Gent, Belgium
Dr. Sean Lim, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, UK

Project summary in 3 min

Host Laboratory

We founded Sixfold to tackle the biggest challenge in healthcare: how to safely deliver therapeutics to diseased cells. Motivated by the impact our technology could make, we’ve been working hard in the lab and are now looking for a PhD student to help modulate the biological activity of our PODS technology. We’re proud of the company we’ve built and our team is Sixfold’s biggest competitive advantage. Our team is creative and iterates fast because they want to see their work make a difference in the clinic. If you want to help cure the incurable, you belong with us.

Diversity and inclusion

It’s important to mention that although disease affects us all, our industry still displays a huge lack of diversity — this needs to change. Our founding team is composed of many different nationalities, cultures and our board is 2/3rds female. Our goal is to create a company culture that promotes ideas and the inclusion of team members from all backgrounds. That means we have no judgement when it comes to any one of the things that make you who you are — your gender, ethnicity, sexuality, religion or your secret aversion to cucumber water.

Contact

laura[at]sixfold.bio