Dr Alexandra Males BSc, MRSC, AFHEA, PhD
Lecturer in Analytical Chemistry
- School of Biosciences and Chemistry
- Biomolecular Sciences Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Centre
- Industry and Innovation Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Institute
Summary
I was appointed as a lecturer at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ in 2023. My teaching responsibilities involve analytical chemistry topics for example, separations, calibrations, spectroscopy and others. I also teach protein enzymology topics in Biochemistry. I am interested in glycobiology research using the mass spectrometry imaging suite. I am the course leader for the BSc Biochemistry degree.
About
After completing a BSc in Biochemistry at The University of Sheffield, I worked at the Oxford Protein Production Facility in the Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Complex at Harwell. I was involved in crystallising proteins from difficult projects.
After this, I completed my PhD in 2019 at the University of York under the guidance of Professor Gideon Davies. My thesis is titled 'structure and function of glycoside hydrolase enzymes involved in mannose and N-acetylglucosamine processing'. My research involved characterising carbohydrate enzymes through structural biology techniques (x-ray crystallography) and analysis of substrates by mass spectrometry. During this time, I was awarded the Kathleen Mary Stott award for recognition of scientific excellence. Within the same group, I took a position as a postdoctoral researcher to continue the work from my PhD.
In 2022, I became an associate lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at the University of York. I was responsible for teaching enzyme kinetics lectures, tutorials, workshops and laboratory classes to chemistry, biochemistry and natural science students.
Teaching
School of Biosciences and Chemistry
College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences
Module leader for Principles of chemical analysis (L4 - Biochemistry and Chemistry), Molecular and cellular biochemistry (L5 - Biochemistry, Biomedicine and Health science and Biology), and Innovations in analytical science (L7 - Analytical chemistry and Pharmaceutical analysis).
Courses taught:
- BSc Chemistry,
- BSc Biochemistry,
- BSc BMS, MSc Analytical Chemistry
Modules taught:
- Fundamentals of life science (L4)
- Principles of chemical analysis (L4)
- Molecular and cellular biochemistry (L5)
- Applied biochemistry (L6)
- Frontiers of chemical research (L7)
- Innovations in analytical science (L7)
- Laboratory classes across all levels
Ï㽶ÊÓƵ
Analysing the effects of carbohydrates involved in medical diseases.
MSci projects - researching the effect of C-mannosylation of proteins on kidney disease and inflammation. This project utilises molecular biology, recombinant protein production in yeast and peptide analysis by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.
Publications
Journal articles
Males, A., Kok, K., Nin-Hill, A., de Koster, N., van den Beukel, S., Beenakker, T.J.M., ... Artola, M. (2023). . Chemical Science.
Calvelo, M., Males, A., Alteen, M.G., Willems, L.I., Vocadlo, D.J., Davies, G.J., & Rovira, C. (2023). . ACS Catalysis, 13 (20), 13672-13678.
Burchill, L., Males, A., Kaur, A., Davies, G.J., & Williams, S.J. (2022). . Israel Journal of Chemistry, 63 (1-2).
González-Cuesta, M., Sidhu, P., Ashmus, R.A., Males, A., Proceviat, C., Madden, Z., ... Vocadlo, D.J. (2022). Bicyclic Picomolar OGA Inhibitors Enable Chemoproteomic Mapping of Its Endogenous Post-translational Modifications. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 144 (2), 832-844.
Schröder, S.P., Offen, W.A., Males, A., Jin, Y., Enotarpi, J., de Boer, C., ... Davies, G.J. (2021). . Chemistry - A European Journal, 27 (37), 9519-9523.
Rovira, C., Males, A., Davies, G.J., & Williams, S.J. (2020). Mannosidase mechanism: at the intersection of conformation and catalysis. Current opinion in structural biology, 62, 79-92.
King, D.T., Males, A., Davies, G.J., & Vocadlo, D.J. (2019). Molecular mechanisms regulating O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc)-processing enzymes. Current opinion in chemical biology, 53, 131-144.
Sernee, M.F., Ralton, J.E., Nero, T.L., Sobala, L.F., Kloehn, J., Vieira-Lara, M.A., ... McConville, M.J. (2019). A Family of Dual-Activity Glycosyltransferase-Phosphorylases Mediates Mannogen Turnover and Virulence in Leishmania Parasites. Cell host & microbe, 26 (3), 385-399.e9.
Males, A., Speciale, G., Williams, S.J., & Davies, G.J. (2019). Distortion of mannoimidazole supports a B2,5 boat transition state for the family GH125 α-1,6-mannosidase from Clostridium perfringens. Organic & biomolecular chemistry, 17 (34), 7863-7869.
Males, A., & Davies, G.J. (2019). . Acta crystallographica. Section D, Structural biology, 75 (Pt 1), 70-78.
Males, A., Raich, L., Williams, S.J., Rovira, C., & Davies, G.J. (2017). Conformational Analysis of the Mannosidase Inhibitor Kifunensine: A Quantum Mechanical and Structural Approach. Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology, 18 (15), 1496-1501.
van Rijssel, E.R., Janssen, A.P.A., Males, A., Davies, G.J., van der Marel, G.A., Overkleeft, H.S., & Codée, J.D.C. (2017). Conformational Behaviour of Azasugars Based on Mannuronic Acid. Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology, 18 (13), 1297-1304.
Alonso-Gil, S., Males, A., Fernandes, P.Z., Williams, S.J., Davies, G.J., & Rovira, C. (2017). Computational Design of Experiment Unveils the Conformational Reaction Coordinate of GH125 α-Mannosidases. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 139 (3), 1085-1088.
Ren, J., Nettleship, J.E., Males, A., Stuart, D.I., & Owens, R.J. (2016). Crystal structures of penicillin-binding protein 3 in complexes with azlocillin and cefoperazone in both acylated and deacylated forms. FEBS letters, 590 (2), 288-297.
Postgraduate supervision
Tammy Chiang - La Trobe partnership student. PhD project titled 'Exploring varietal differences in nutritional qualities of fava beans for sustainable ingredient development'.