Current Group Members
Postdoctoral Research Associates
Dr Justine Schwarte (2025 - present)
Email: j.schwarte(at)qub.ac.uk
Justine is from Winkel, France. She studied at the European School of Chemistry, Polymer and Materials in Strasbourg, and graduated in bioorganic chemistry from the High National School of Chemistry of Mulhouse. She then joined the Fromm group at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland for her PhD, where she worked on metallo-β-lactamase proteins, fluorophores, and antibacterial assays.
She joined the Cochrane lab in 2025 and her current research focuses on studying antimicrobial peptides through the synthesis of labelled polyprenyls. In her spare time, Justine likes reading historical and crime novels, hiking, and cooking pastries.
Dr Samantha Bann (2025 - present)
Email: s.bann(at)qub.ac.uk
Sam is originally from Lurgan, Northern Ireland, and began her undergraduate studies at QUB in 2015. She completed her master’s project in the Cochrane lab in 2019 and has been part of the team ever since. Sam’s research focuses on the synthesis of antimicrobial peptides, and has included projects on the tridecaptins, globomycin, and brevicidine (each with varying levels of success!). After completing her PhD in 2024, she returned to the lab to continue work on peptide synthesis. In her free time, Sam’s usually out for a run, at the gym, or hanging out with friends (or her cat, Ivy).
Dr. Dmitry Vinnitsky (2024 - present)
Email: d.vinnitsky(at)qub.ac.uk
Dmitry is from Moscow, Russia. He graduated from Higher Chemical College Russian Academy of Sciences in 2011 and received his PhD degree in 2015 at Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry RAS under the supervision of Dr. Ustyuzhanina. Before joining the Cochrane lab, Dmitry worked with Prof. Nifantiev at Laboratory of Glycoconjugate Chemistry in Zelinsky Institute, focusing on synthesis of oligosaccharides related to natural polysaccharides. The aim of his studies was to understand the relationship between fine structure features and biological activity of natural polysaccharides in order to design new carbohydrate-based drug platforms. Outside the lab Dmitry enjoys spending time with his dog Loki and visiting historical places and ruins.
Dr. Milandip Karak (2022 - present)
Email: m.karak(at)qub.ac.uk
Milandip was born and raised in a small rural village named Tilaboni, located in the eastern part of India under the state of West Bengal. He received his B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry from the Vidyasagar University, India, in 2009 and an M.Sc. in Chemistry from the Nagpur University, India, in 2011. He later pursued doctoral studies with Prof. Luiz Claudio Barbosa at the Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil, focusing on the synthesis and agrochemical application of γ-butenolides. After earning his Ph.D. in 2017, Milandip was a Visiting Scientist for 18 months at the Kyushu University, Japan, working with Dr. Kohei Torikai on the development of novel protecting groups and their application in stereoselective glycosylation. In 2019, he joined the research group of Prof. Christopher Vanderwal at the University of California, Irvine, USA, as a Postdoctoral Fellow to work on the synthesis of diterpene isonitriles to develop new antimalarial drugs. In 2021, he returned to India and take up a role as a Senior Research Scientist at TCG Life Sciences. In 2022, he joined the Cochrane Lab, where his research focuses on studying the mechanism of action of antimicrobial peptides Outside of the lab, Milandip enjoys traveling to new places and watching movies. He is a great fan of sci-fi movies and science-based documentaries. ‘A Beautiful Mind’, ‘Breaking the Mould’, ‘Interstellar’, ‘Back to the Future', ‘Star Trek’ are some of his all-time favourites.
PhD students
Luke Tyrie (Oct 2025 - present)
Email: ltyrie01(at)qub.ac.uk
Luke is from Belfast and started his MChem at Queen’s in 2021. Between his 2nd and 3rd year, he undertook a summer placement at the University of Oxford synthesising MRI contrast agent analogues, supervised by Professor Stephen Faulkner. During his Masters year, Luke joined the Cochrane lab and focused on the synthesis of lipid II analogues for antibiotic research and discovery. After graduating in July 2025, he undertook a summer research project, funded by AMPLY Discovery, under the supervision of Prof. Panagioitis Manesiotis. The project focused on formulating lipid nanoparticles that contained cancer-targeting siRNAs. In October 2025, Luke returned to the Cochrane lab to pursue a PhD, where he is continuing his research on lipid II analogues. In his free time, he enjoys watching horror movies, visiting museums, and hanging out with friends!
Ryan Brown (Oct 2025 - present)
Email: rbrown71(at)qub.ac.uk
Ryan is from Gourock on the west coast of Scotland. He graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2023 with a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry, where he carried out research in the Sutherland group on the synthesis of novel fluorescent amino acids. He went on to complete an MSc in Chemical Biology at Glasgow in the Jamieson group, focusing on the synthesis and late-stage functionalisation of macrocyclic peptidomimetics. After his studies, Ryan spent a year in industry at Keltic Pharma Therapeutics as a peptide chemist, gaining experience in high-throughput peptide synthesis and lead optimisation. In 2025, he joined the Cochrane group as a PhD student, where his research explores the development of self-sensing probes for high-throughput antibiotic discovery. Outside of the lab, Ryan enjoys running, playing guitar, travelling, and going to gigs with friends.
Jonathan Cubitt (Oct 2024 - present)
Email: jcubitt02(at)qub.ac.uk
Jonathan is from Durban, South Africa. He began his MChem in 2019 at Cardiff University. In his final year of undergraduate study, he worked in the Medicines Discovery Institute synthesising non covalent inhibitors of acid ceramidase for the treatment of Lysosomal Storage Disorders. He joined the Cochrane Lab in October 2024 and his current research focuses on making analogues of thioether-containing amino acids to be used in antimicrobial peptide synthesis. Outside of the lab he spends most of his spare time with his friends, playing rugby or with his dog Poppy.
Lydia Papagora (Oct 2024 - present)
Email: lpapagora01(at)qub.ac.uk
Lydia is from Athens, Greece. She performed completed an Erasmus internship, focusing on organic chemistry, in Spain (Jaume University I) and graduated in 2022 from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry. In 2023, she worked in the Tate group of Imperial College London as a MRes student, on the synthesis of small molecules that potentiate the antibiotic ciprofloxacin by engaging novel cellular membrane targets. In 2024, she joined the Cochrane group as a PhD student, continuing her research on novel approaches that overcome antimicrobial resistance. Outside of the lab she enjoys swimming, doing puzzles and visiting friends, family and pets in Greece.
Cian Cloonan (Oct 2023 - present)
Email: ccloonan02(at)qub.ac.uk
Cian Cloonan is from Co Galway. He started his MChem at Queen's University Belfast in 2018. During his 3rd year he undertook an industrial placement at Thermofisher Scientific Cork in process development. In his free time, he enjoys swimming and spending time with his friends, as well as visiting his two dogs, Harvey and Trudy, back in Galway. Cian's PhD is focused on the development of synthetic polyprenyl probes for mechanistic studies on antibiotics.
Mary Lagan (Oct 2023 - present)
Email: mlagan12(at)qub.ac.uk
Mary grew up in Swatragh, Northern Ireland, and began her undergraduate chemistry degree in 2019 at Queen’s University, Belfast. After her 2nd year of study, she undertook an industrial placement as a Formulation Scientist at Eakin R&D. Mary joined the Cochrane Lab in October 2023 and her current research focuses on synthesis novel antimicrobial peptides. Outside the lab, Mary enjoys spending time with friends, hiking, playing the flute and spending time with her pets.
Mae Carpenter (Oct 2023 -present)
Email: mcarpenter02(at)qub.ac.uk
Mae Carpenter is from the Rhondda valleys in South Wales. They began their undergraduate degree in Genetics and Biochemistry in 2019 at Aberystwyth university, followed by an Masters of Research in Parasite Control in 2022 also at Aberystwyth University. Mae's PhD is an interdisciplinary project between Biological Sciences and Chemistry that focuses on exploring how biotic interactions affect the antiparasitic efficacy of plant phytochemicals and the incorporation of bioactive forages into future farming systems. Mae's main hobbies include playing guitar and painting.
Brad Baker (Jan 2020 - present)
Email: bbaker01(at)qub.ac.uk
Brad Baker grew up in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland and began his undergraduate chemistry degree in 2015 at Queen’s University Belfast. After his 3rd year of study Brad undertook an industrial placement at GlaxoSmithKline, Medicinal Chemistry Research and Development, focusing on epigenetic drug design. Brad joined the Cochrane lab in September 2019 and started his PhD in January 2020. His current research focuses on the synthesis of fluorescent probes and the development of high throughput screening methods for the identification of novel antimicrobial targets. Brads interests outside the lab include cycling, true crime documentaries and spending time with his cat, Ralph.
Visiting Researchers
Manon Trouche (April 2026 - July 2026)
Manon is from Bardos, in the southwest of France. She’s an undergraduate in Molecular Chemistry and currently in her first year of a Master’s Degree in Medicinal Chemistry at Toulouse University, France. She’s doing an internship in the lab and her work focuses on the synthesis of menaquinone-binding antimicrobial peptides (MBAPs) in order to inhibit bacterial respiration. She aims to work at the intersection between medicinal chemistry and biology in the future. Outside the lab Manon loves travelling and discovering new countries. She enjoys reading, hiking and ceramic painting.
Ella Donnelly (April 2026 - July 2026)
Ella is from Belfast and did her MChem at QUB. Her 4th year project was with John Holbrey where she synthesised bis(imidazolium) ionic liquid salts as chelating anion receptors and her PhD in the Knipe lab focused on the synthesis of novel liquid crystalline materials. She incorporated the concept of bioisosterism from medicinal chemistry into this work by looking at benzene and esters substitutes in liquid crystalline compounds. Ella has joined the Cochrane lab for three months as part of a pump-priming project to investigate the use of chemical probes to assay rubber-degrading enzymes.
