Dr Lizzie Wadsworth

About

I completed a PhD from the University of Edinburgh studying the mitochondrial DNA of human parasites Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania species. These parasites cause the diseases Human African Trypanosomiasis and Leishmaniasis, which are categorised as Neglected Tropical Diseases - diseases which disproportionately affect low-income populations and were historically under-researched. During my undergraduate I also worked part-time as a technician in food microbiology and STI testing laboratories. 

My research uses a mix of traditional laboratory techniques and computer programming (bioinformatics). Recent advancements in molecular biology allow for generation of very large amounts of data, such as DNA sequencing, and computer programming is now key to interpreting these results. I am also doing pedagogic research investigating the links between student mental wellbeing and student engagement, and investigating interventions to help support students who may be struggling with their wellbeing. 

From 2020 to 2023 I worked as a Teaching Fellow at Royal Holloway University of London, where I was teaching and co-ordinating the Foundation Year for Computer Sciences, Physics and Mathematics, and in September 2022 I was involved in the design and introduction of a new Foundation Year for Life Sciences. I joined Kingston University as a Lecturer in 2024, with a focus on education into parasitology, evolutionary biology and bioinformatics.