Research

Love Odunlami

John Innes Foundation PhD Student
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Profile photo of Love Odunlami

Biography

Personal pronouns: He/him

Contact details:

Love.Odunlami@earlham.ac.uk

Love Odunlami

I am a John Innes Foundation-funded PhD student in Prof. Anthony Hall’s group at the Earlham Institute. 

My PhD project is focused on uncovering the genetic basis of gene expression in elite wheat varieties underlying key agronomic traits.

I hold a BSc in Crop Production and Protection from Obafemi Awolowo University, where I worked on developing maize hybrids, and an MPhil in Seed Science and Technology from WACCI, University of Ghana, focused on evaluating soybean genotypes.

I later completed an MSc in Global Plant Health at The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL), working in Jonathan Jones’ group on stacking resistance genes against tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV). 

Prior to commencing my PhD, I joined Dan MacLean’s Bioinformatics team at TSL as a predoctoral intern, where I developed machine learning models for effector prediction.

Event Science

Earlham Student Body Symposium 2025

Bringing together the Norwich Research Park to explore, share, and celebrate the research of Earlham Institute PhD students.

Start date: 27 November 2025
End date: 27 November 2025
Time: 09.00 - 17.00
Venue: Earlham Institute (Norwich UK)
Organiser: William Lloyd
Registration deadline: 23 November 2025
Cost: Free

About the event

The Earlham Institute student symposium is back for another exciting year of talks, posters, and networking, celebrating the breadth and creativity of student research.

The programme will feature presentations from third- and fourth-year PhD students, offering a showcase of cutting-edge research and innovative ideas. 

Second-year students will deliver flash poster talks, and our poster session will provide an opportunity to explore research in more detail while connecting with peers.

Alongside the academic programme, we will host interactive activities as well as plenty of opportunities to network over coffee breaks and lunch.

Our goal is to create a comfortable and relaxed environment where students can confidently present their research. 

Please note: This symposium is open to students and scientists at one of the Norwich Bioscience Institutes (NBI), including the Earlham Institute (EI), the John Innes Centre (JIC), the Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) and the Quadram Institute (QIB).

 

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Colleagues networking during the last student symposium

Register today.

Registration deadline: 23 November 2025

Participation: First come, first served

Research

Haitao Han

Visiting PhD Student
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Biography

Contact details:

Haitao.Han@earlham.ac.uk

 

 

Haitao is a visiting PhD student at the Earlham Institute working within Chris Quince’s group.

His doctoral research focused on computational methods related to metagenomics.

Prior to starting at the Earlham Institute, Haitao was a Ph.D. student at the Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-inspired Intelligence (ISTBI), Fudan University.

Event Scientific training

Detection of DNA base modification using nanopore sequencing 2026

In this comprehensive two-day course, participants will learn how to use nanopore sequencing to detect DNA base modifications.

Start date: 13 May 2026
End date: 14 May 2026
Time: 09.30 - 16.30
Venue: Online (via Zoom)
Organiser: Conrad Nieduszynski
Enquiries:

training@earlham.ac.uk

 

About the event

The course covers experimental design, including important considerations for generating ultra long Nanopore sequencing reads. Through a blend of lectures and hands-on sessions, attendees will gain the skills necessary to analyse base modification profiles in various contexts. 

We will also include an exploration of relevant research case studies and practice visualising and manipulating base modification data using genome browsers and other tools. 

Please note: we are currently reviewing and updating the course content for 2026, up to date information will be available when registrations open. 

What will I learn? 

  • Principles of base modification detection using Nanopore sequencing
  • Experimental considerations for generating ultra long Nanopore sequencing reads
  • Sequence alignment (minimap2) and data QC (pycoQC)
  • Hands-on experience with base modification detection (DNAscent, Remora)
  • Visualisation and manipulation base modification data (IGV, modBAM)
  • Comparison of single molecule base modification detection approaches  

Who is this training for?

Early career researchers who are in the planning stages of a research project looking at base modification detection.  

Course prerequisites 

You should have familiarity with the command line, and either be familiar with actions as in the Software Carpentry lesson on The Unix Shell; or work through these before the training course starts. 

Register today.

Participation: First come, first served

Register your interest in attending Detection of DNA base modification using nanopore sequencing 2026 today.

Research

Tina Asgari

PhD Student
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Biography

Contact details:

tina.asgari@earlham.ac.uk

Tina Asgari

I am an NRPDTP PhD student at the Earlham Institute, working in the Haerty Group. My project, “The message in the noise: characterisation and quantification of noise in alternative splicing using long-read sequencing,” is funded by UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). 

My research focuses on understanding how variability in alternative splicing contributes to gene regulation and cellular complexity.

Before starting my PhD, I worked as a Bioinformatician at Sitryx Therapeutics, a company focused on regulating cell metabolism to develop disease-modifying therapeutics for chronic autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. 

In this role, I analysed microarray and Illumina bulk RNA-seq datasets for autoimmune conditions, including Asthma and Atopic Dermatitis, and contributed to building an internal database to support research and discovery efforts.

Prior to this, I completed a highly competitive one-year industrial placement at MSD, where I gained hands-on experience in bioinformatics, neuroscience, and R&D. During my placement, I developed a comprehensive bioinformatics pipeline to support biomarker discovery efforts.

Research

Gurpinder Singh Sidhu

Postdoctoral Research Scientist
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Biography

Personal pronouns: He/him

Contact details:

gurpinder.sidhu@earlham.ac.uk

 


 

I am working as part of the EU Horizon / Innovate UK funded project "Next Generation Tools for Genome-Centric Multimodal Data Integration in Personalised Medicine". 

My work focuses on developing machine learning applications to investigate the implications of genetic variation within noncoding functional elements in relation to cardiovascular disorders.

I did my PhD in computational biology at the John Innes Centre, where I worked on gene regulatory networks controlling flowering time in a polyploid plant, Brassica napus

My broad research interest is using mathematical and computational techniques to understand biological systems.

Research

Louis Perrin

PhD Student
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Biography

Personal pronouns: He/him

Contact details:

louis.perrin@earlham.ac.uk

Louis Perrin


 

I am a John Innes Foundation PhD student in the Guiziou Group, where I work on the engineering of soil bacteria (mainly Pseudomonas) capable of detecting and recording soil health using synthetic biology technologies.

My project aims to develop sentinel bacteria that can convert environmental signals into genetic memory, providing new tools to better understand and monitor soil dynamics.

Before starting my PhD, I obtained a Master’s degree in Plant Sciences from Université Paris-Saclay, during which I completed two research internships that allowed me to become familiar with the research environment and gain solid experience in molecular biology and plant-microbe interactions.