ApconiX Welcomes Lizzie Marriott
ApconiX is delighted to welcome Lizzie (Elizabeth) Marriott in the Business Development team, who will work with existing and future customers to give them the nonclinical safety support they need in their drug development program.
Academic Career
Lizzie was born and grew up in Australia, where she graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Biomedical Science from the University of Queensland in Brisbane. She spent her honours year in the Meunier Laboratory at the Queensland Brain Institute studying the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory.
Her project investigated the impact of saturated free fatty acids in modulating excitatory synaptic plasticity. In this context, Lizzie looked at morphological changes in synapses to show signs of long-term potentiation, changes to synaptic architecture and receptor localisation. Using primary hippocampal neurons in vitro, she cultured and transfected neurons before chemically inducing LTP and using immunocytochemistry and microscopy to determine changes. She also examined in vivo changes, using a rotary microtome to section Wild Type and Knock Out mouse brains, before immunohistochemical staining with fluorescent antibodies to target proteins of interest. The study revealed a critical role for saturated free fatty acids in regulating synaptic structure, connectivity and plasticity.
Working at ApconiX
Lizzie was connected with our colleague Sophia Tomlinson by a mutual friend who had observed similarities in their scientific backgrounds and people-focused natures. Sophia was able to mentor Lizzie, providing her own insight from using a science degree to work in other fields of science, for instance Business Development. Through those chats it became clear that Lizzie could be a great asset to the BD team, who needed to expand to match with the increase of ApconiX capabilities and clients' requests. Lizzie is now the first point of contact for most clients of the ion channel laboratory team, supporting requests for ApconiX's wide range of laboratory capabilities: ion channel screening both on manual and automated patch-clamp, cardiomyocytes and neuronal studies using the Microelectrode Array (MEA) and in silico cardiac safety profiling. Lizzie continues training to support ApconiX's existing and future clients in their need for nonclinical safety services and in delivering ApconiX's growth ambitions.
Dr Laurence Bishop, Head of Business Development and Deputy Director, commented: "Lizzie has been a brilliant addition to ApconiX and the business development team. Her own molecular mechanisms of learning and memory are excellent and a huge help as demand for support grows. I have learnt a lot from Lizzie just in our informal chats on brain development".
Interests Outside of Work
Lizzie loves being outdoors, and true to that claim, she joined for the Yorkshire Three Peaks charity hike on her 2nd day at ApconiX. She also enjoys the beach, running, reading, and painting.
