Hi, I’m Huasen, a new PhD student in Microbiology supervised by Dr Margherita Bertuzzi and Dr Jonathan Worboys.

I was born and bred in Beijing and completed my BEng at Capital Medical University. After graduating, I did an internship at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, where I developed a strong interest in human pathogens. I then completed an MSc in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Nottingham, and I’m currently working on a research project with the Manchester Fungal Infection Group (MFIG).

My research mainly focuses on how alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) recognise and internalise Aspergillus fumigatus spores, and why this frontline defence is compromised in people at risk of fungal lung disease. I will use a proximity-labelling approach to identify proteins that mediate A. fumigatus uptake by AECs. This offers a powerful way to map the epithelial uptake machinery, including weak and transient interactions that are often missed by conventional affinity-based methods. Ultimately, this project aims to define the molecular mechanisms of epithelial defence and support the development of AEC-targeted immunomodulators.

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