Lab Members

Principal Investigator
Tracey Gloster
Tracey graduated with a BSc (Hons) degree in Biochemistry at the University of Warwick, followed by a PhD at the University of York under the supervision of Prof. Gideon Davies. After a short post-doc in the same lab, Tracey was awarded a Sir Henry Wellcome postdoctoral fellowship by the Wellcome Trust where she spent the majority of the time working at Simon Fraser University, Canada under the mentorship of Prof. David Vocadlo. In January 2012, Tracey moved to the University of St Andrews with a Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellowship where she started an independent research group.

Postdoctoral Fellow
Stephen McMahon 
Hailing from the Glasgow I truly am the foreigner living over on the far east coast in St. Andrews. I graduated BSc (Hons) Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry from Glasgow University last century and went on to do a PhD with Dr. Jim Naismith at the University of St Andrews. Three and a half years later I (temporarily) escaped St Andrews and headed back west to take up a post-doctoral position in Prof. Partho Ghosh’s lab at the University of California, San Diego. The California sun was too much to bear and so it was I returned to St. Andrews in 2005 to take up residence for 13 years in Prof. Jim Naismith’s lab. In 2018 I happily migrated up the office to work in the Gloster lab where I currently reside solving lots of protein structures and deciphering carbohydrate processing enzyme problems.

Lab Manager
Verena Oehler
Originally from Germany, Verena studied at the University of Glasgow where she obtained a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry and a PhD in Cancer Research. After post-doctoral training at the Centre for Virus Research in Glasgow, she joined the newly established Gloster group in 2012 as Research Technician and Lab Manager. Verena is working on human carbohydrate-processing enzymes.

PhD Students
Catriona Haberland (co-supervisor Gordon Florence)
I am a CRITICAT PhD student from Germany with a BSc degree in Biomolecular Science from the University of St Andrews (2018). During my PhD, jointly supervised by Dr Tracey Gloster and Dr Gordon Florence, I will be researching the sulfatases Sulf1 and Sulf2 at a molecular level, among other using enzyme kinetics, X-ray crystallography and synthetic chemistry. With my research I hope to expand the fundamental understanding of these enzymes and to explore their biomedical potential.

Di Zhu (Judy)
Originally from China, Di graduated with a Bachelor degree in Pharmaceutics, then obtained a Master degree in Pharmacy (major in Molecular and Cell biology) at Tianjin University in China. Now, she is starting a PhD with the supervision of Dr Tracey Gloster under CSC scholarship funding. The PhD project aims to use enzymes to synthesize nucleotide sugars.

Shannon Richardson 
Shannon is from the North of England and completed her MSci in Natural Sciences in Chemistry and Biology at Durham University. After completing her degree, she took a year out to work in a Covid-19 testing lab before moving to St. Andrews in September 2021. She is an EASTBIO DTP student focusing on human carbohydrate-processing enzymes and their role in disease.

Anna Zolotariof (co-supervisor Stuart MacNeill)
I am an EASTBIO student researching the biotechnological potential and biological function of GH-J clan enzymes from haloarchaea. I was born and raised in Greece but have been around the UK for a while now for my studies. Prior to starting my PhD, I completed my undergraduate degree on Biology at the University of York and did a placement year on Astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh.

Peter Black (co-supervisor Terry Smith)
Peter is originally from Northern Ireland and completed his undergraduate degree here at the University of St Andrews (MBiochem). Now he is completing a joint PhD project between Dr Tracey Gloster and Professor Terry Smith focused on glycan-modifying enzymes in members of the trypanosoma and leishmania genera. Outside of the lab he spends his time going to the gym, doing aerial yoga, climbing and acting/singing in a variety of productions (which have made for fun group events!)

Brendon Medley

Brendon is the designated Canadian in the group. He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biochemistry at the University of Victoria, focusing on carbohydrate active enzymes found within commensal gastrointestinal organisms. Deciding “what’s another few years as a student”,  he signed on his PhD here in Saint Andrews, focusing on studying synergistic interplay between enzymes that degrade plant biomass.  Brendon’s favourite hobby is picking up random new hobbies, with a current focus on baking sourdough, fermenting hot sauce, the NY Times crossword, and competitive Solitaire.

Former lab members

  • Robert Pengelly (PhD)
  • Laura Griffin (PhD)
  • Fraser Duthie (Research Technician)
  • Lei Yang (PostDoc)
  • Eirini Xemantilotou (PhD)
  • Andrew Woods (MSc)
  • Teresa Machado (PhD)
  • Rebekka Uhl (MSc Res)
  • Agnieszka Bogucka (PhD)
  • Flora Foltanyi (PhD)
  • Stuart McQuarrie (MSc Res, now PhD student with Malcolm White)
  • Emma Hobbs (PhD)

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