LEO CREASEY

Title: Seasonal light signalling in Nasonia

Host Institution: University of Haifa
Supervisor: Prof Eran Tauber
Contact: TBC
Start date: 1 June 2021

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About me: I am from Buckingham in the middle of the UK. I studied Medical Genetics with a Year Abroad for my undergraduate degree at the University of Leicester. This was where I first interacted with Circadian biology through my third year project, investigating whether restricted feeding could be used to alter circadian activity of fruit flies that had limited expression of their biological clock. I further investigated circadian biology during my Masters degree, with the aim being to use CRISPR to validate previous research into a SNP on the timeless gene in the fruit fly circadian clock. This was cut short by the recent pandemic however. I have spent the time during the pandemic working at a COVID-19 testing facility as both a scientist and a supervisor, but I wish to return to research and to carry on working in circadian biology and with insects.

My project will be determining the photoreceptive protein in bumblebee circadian clocks, using dsRNAi knockdown.

CINCHRON provides a unique opportunity to work with other scientists from around the globe all focused in the field of circadian biology. I wish to join that community both to learn from the experienced members of the team, as well as to contribute in my own way to the field of circadian biology.