Dr David Owen

Following completion of his Ph.D. in 2015 (University of St Andrews, Scotland), David joined Martin Walsh's macromolecular crystallography group at Diamond Light Source as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate. David's focus was structural characterisation of proteins involved in carbohydrate processing, by pathogenic and commensal bacteria, with a particular interest in sialic acid. Work on membrane bound carbohydrate transporters led to greater use of single particle electron microscopy. David also contributed to Diamond's effort to unearth new drugs to combat COVID-19 by solving the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease and papain like proteases in complex with numerous molecules of therapeutic interest.

David joined the electron Bio-Imaging Centre in August 2020 as an Electron Microscope Scientist. His research interests in carbohydrate processing remains and his hope is to use the tools and techniques present at eBIC to continue to answer exciting biological questions.