Postdocs, We Appreciate You!

Queen Mary Appreciates Our Postdocs!

Here are the messages of appreciation sent for PAW2025.

Send yours by 6pm on 19 September 2025

 

we will attempt to have messages live within 48hours

To: Dr Jingsong (WIPH)

Your hard work, organisation and positive attitude are really appreciated. Thanks for everything you're doing on PROTECT-C and beyond. You're a brilliant asset to the team!

From: Jo (WIPH)

To: Dr Saumya Gupta (SPCS)

Dear Saumya, Thank you for all of your work over the last year and your perseverance when we have encountered challenges in the data. I look forward to seeing the results of that effort in the coming year!

From: Thomas Haworth (SPCS)

To: Dr Huw Cheston (EECS)

Big thanks to Huw Cheston for his brilliant work on AudibleLight and the Universal Acoustic Vision project! In just months, you’ve built tools that will shape the future of multimodal AI and spatial computing. Your creativity, drive, and collaborative spirit make this work a joy.

From: Iran R. Roman (EECS)

To: Dr Stef (WIPH)

We're so lucky to have you on PERSPECTIVES! You've made a brilliant start and we appreciate your expertise, hard-work and calm approach. Looking forward to continuing to work together!

From: Jo (WIPH)

To: Dr Raul Szekely (WIPH)

Raul, your enthusiasm, positivity, and ability to hit the ground running have been fantastic. You’ve quickly shown yourself to be a great addition to our team, and your energy, commitment, and collaborative spirit are already making a real difference.

From: Jamie Ross (WIPH)

To: Dr Rosie Lane (BCI)

Thankyou Rosie for all your hard work helping to extract all the FFPE samples alongside your own research projects. Thanks to your efforts and commitment to the team we managed to complete our big study by the deadline!

From: Louise (BCI)

To: Dr Peiyao Tang (SBBS)

Dear Peiyao, your ability to approach work with calm focus is amazing. You always handle challenges with a positive attitude, and your quiet brilliance makes a real contribution to our research. Thank you for the consistency, perseverance and positivity you bring to the team!

From: Kasia Kostyrka-Allchorne (SBBS)

To: Dr Adrian Rodriguez (BI)

Welcome to your first Postdoc Appreciation Week! Thanks for being a great friend and TC neighbour!

From: Aoife (BI)

To: Dr Laura Bevis (DERI)

Laura, you turn the complexities of blood flow into breakthroughs! Your CFD models of the aorta are powering new insights into TAVI and aortic stenosis. Thanks for keeping our research flowing smoothly — we appreciate you!

From: Greg Slabaugh (DERI)

To: Dr Xiaoyu Zheng (DERI)

Xiaoyu, you’re transforming how we see joints! From ultrasound AI and foundation models to scoring inflammation with precision, your work is reshaping MSK research. Thanks for keeping our science moving — we appreciate you!

From: Greg Slabaugh (DERI)

To: Dr Jorn Stok (BI)

Postdoc Appreciation Week wouldn’t be complete without celebrating you! Thank you for being helpful to a fault and for bringing order to the chaos, the lab has never been more organised. Postdocs like you are true catalysts, keeping both our experiments and our spirits running!!

From: Josephine Nemegeer (BI)

To: Dr Emily Lay (BI)

Thanks for all the work you do to represent postdocs in the Blizard and Whitechapel

From: Aoife (BI)

To: Dr Samuele Amante (BI)

Many thanks for all you do for the lab on top of juggling your multiple projects, and being such a fantastic team player. I am very conscious that the lab would probably implode without you.

From: Miguel Branco (BI)

To: Dr Ankit Patel (BCI)

Ankit, I have learned so much working with you. Thank you for your help with the bioinformatics analyses, and always willing to help colleagues. It is a pleasure to work with you!

From: Emilia (BCI)

To: Dr Natalya Khodeneva (WHRI)

Nat, thank you for all the support, guidance and friendship over the last few years - you are always there to offer a helping hand or some reassurance when needed!

From: Millie (WHRI)

To: Dr Lucy Mitchinson

Thank you for your incredible enthusiasm, drive, innovative thinking and leadership in steering our CRUK Distance and Disadvantage project with such brilliance. Your commitment to student supervision, active role in centre life, and team spirit are also super appreciated.!

From: Sammy Quaife (WIPH)

To: Dr Katie Baird (BCI)

Katie, I am so glad you joined our team this year. It is a pleasure working with you!

From: Emilia Peleva (BCI)

To: Dr Abigail Coetzee (BI)

Thanks for being such a supportive colleague and for all the work you do to represent postdocs in the Blizard and Whitechapel

From: Aoife (BI)

To: Dr Laura Bevis

Thanks so much for your amazing research on aortic flow modelling! It's a pleasure to collaborate.

From: Caroline Roney (SEMS)

To: Dr Martin Lindberg

In the constantly changing and unstable academic environment, I appreciate that you’re dependable and that I can rely on you.

From: Heli (SPCS)

To: Dr Raphaël Meshaka (SPCS)

Salut Raphaël. Merci pour tout ton travail pendant l’année dernière. Je suis ravi de réfléchir aux résultats. Merci aussi de m’aider avec mon mauvais français.

From: Thomas Haworth (SPCS)

To: Dr Gitu

Although we don't quite work together regularly, it is always so nice to see your smiling face in the office in front and come to chat about concerts. Happy that you are part of the group!

From: Marcella (SPCS)

To: Dr Eleni Maniati (BCI)

Eleni, thank you for being such a great colleague! It is a pleasure to know you as a colleague and friend!

From: Emilia Peleva (BCI)

To: Dr Maria Niedernhuber (SBBS)

Dear Maria, thank you for being our postdoc. Your knowledge, judgment and enthusiasm ground the whole lab. I am particularly grateful for your contribution to the Learning Disabilities project, and for helping PhD students with EEG analysis.

From: Valdas Noreika (SBBS)

To: Dr Madeline Jun Yu Yon

Dear Madeline, I would like to thank you sincerely for your guidance and support during my time as a clinical fellow at the Institute of Dentistry. It has been a joy working alongside you, and I truly appreciate your kindness and expertise.

From: Ethan Ng (IOD)

To: Dr Jude Edwards (WIPH)

Jude, your positivity, proactive approach, and dedication make a huge difference to our team. Your hard work, reliability, and supportive attitude are inspiring. I truly appreciate how easy you are to work with—you make collaboration enjoyable, motivating, and highly productive

From: Jamie Ross (WIPH)

To: Dr Lin Qiao (SPCS)

Hi Lin. Well done for making such rapid progress with the new project studying how disc evolution depends on the molecular cloud parameters. This will lead to some really exciting results in the coming year!

From: Thomas Haworth (SPCS)

To: Dr Eduardo Mercadante (CCLS)

Eduardo has done an amazing job as postdoc for our British Academy-funded project on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic for IP licensing practices in vaccine production. He is a valued member of our team, bringing new research skills and fresh ideas to our group.

From: Duncan Matthews (CCLS)

To: Dr Vian Rajabzadeh (WIPH)

Thank you for joining our team this year, Vian, and for showing such a willingness to learn. It's a pleasure working with you.

From: Sara Paparini (WIPH)

To: Dr Lauryn Buckley-Benbow

She is a marvelous supportive post doc. She is dedicated to her work and helpful. She always make sure good lab environment is maintained. Lauryn, you are a brilliant post doc!

From: Betty Tse (BCI)

To: Dr Rosalie Hayes (WIPH)

Thank you for your commitment to the values, practices, and aims of our research programme, Rosalie. You have been a rock!

From: Sara Paparini (WIPH)

To: Dr Andy Gibson (STA)

Andy: Thank you for fabulous wizardry on so many GLE fronts, especially workflow and analysis magic most recently!

From: Devyani Sharma (STA)

To: Dr Piotr Szkuta (BI)

Thank you Piotr for coming back for more, for being as industrious and smiley as ever, and for getting your head around several projects so quickly!

From: Robin (BI)

To: Dr Wendy Tran (BCI)

Wendy, I am so glad you joined our team this year. It has been a pleasure to work with you, and I hope we work on many cSCC projects in the future!

From: Emilia Peleva (BCI)

To: Dr Dr Josephine Nemegeer

Thank you for all the ways you’ve helped me settle at the Blizard. From opening up new experiences to leading lab organisation and LEAF certifications, you’ve made such a difference (for me personally and for our labs!). It's a big pleasure to work alongside you!

From: Dr Jorn Stok (BI)

To: Dr Yue Liu

Thank you for your hard work to support the CPN dementia team and for taking on the CPN meetings. We really appreciate how you've bought Centre members together.

From: Laura Smith (WIPH)

To: Dr Gavin Coleman (SPCS)

Hi Gavin. Congratulations on a ridiculously productive year for first author publications. Thank you also for keeping me on my toes.

From: Thomas Haworth (SPCS)

To: Dr Megan Young (WHRI)

Happy Postdoc Appreciation Week, Megan! Your hard work, creativity and calm under pressure lift our lab every day. Thanks for mentoring, turning ideas into sharp experiments, and pushing us to be our best. We’re grateful for all you do!

From: Prof Dunja Aksentijevic (WHRI)

To: Dr Xu Chen

It's a pleasure to collaborate with you on cardiac digital twin research! Thanks for all the awesome innovation.

From: Caroline Roney (SEMS)

To: Dr Anne-Mairead Folan

Thank you for all the amazing work you do on MEDLEY - we so appreciate your can-do approach, organisation, initiative and brilliant ideas. We also really appreciate how you gladly pitch in with supporting many other activities for the team and our centre. You're a true asset!

From: Sammy Quaife & Georgia Black (WIPH)

To: Dr Gemma Hutton

Thank you for all your dedication, hard working and smart thinking in turning very complex data into such meaningful insights. I also really appreciate your collegiality and support to our team. We're so lucky to have you!

From: Sammy Quaife (WIPH)

To: Dr Luke Keyte (SPCS)

Hi Luke. It's been a really successful year both in terms of models and obtaining new observations, so well done! I was also impressed with your MSc project supervision.

From: Thomas Haworth (SPCS)

To: Dr Ana Muniz Garcia (BI)

Thanks for being such a great friend and colleague and always helping to find little ways to make us smile in the lab

From: Aoife (BI)

To: Dr Christopher Archibald

Christopher has done incredible editorial work this year on the ERC project ‘TextDiveGlobal’, based in STA. Without this work the project would now be stalling. Thank you Christopher.

From: Warren Boutcher (STA)

To: Dr Charlotte Kelley Jones (WIPH)

Thank you for all your hard work on the TEAM-B project this year – I don’t think anyone else could have taken on this challenge quite like you and I am extremely grateful for all the time and effort you have put into it – thank you!

From: Suzanne Scott (WIPH)

To: Dr Vimbai Mandaza (WIPH)

Thank you for joining us in the academic journey, Vimbai, and for supporting Partnership for Black People's Health with great commitment and care.

From: Sara Paparini (WIPH)

To: Dr Lily Freeman-Jones (STA)

Lily has gone well above and beyond this year in supporting the ERC project ‘TextDiveGlobal’, based in STA. She organised four international events. All this in her first year in the job. Her only weakness is ordering generous amounts of food!

From: Warren Boutcher (STA)

To: Dr Emma Bailey (BCI)

Emma, thank you for being such a great colleague! It's a pleasure to work with you, I have learned a lot from you, and I hope we work on many more future cSCC projects together!

From: Emilia Peleva (BCI)

To: Dr Lady Akwa

Thank you for all the amazing work you do on the Yorkshire Lung Screening Trial – for your perseverance, fantastic ideas and dedication – and for all the insight and positivity you bring to our team. Your thoughtful contributions make a real difference and we’re so grateful!

From: Sammy Quaife (WIPH)

To: Dr Rhian Milton-Cole (BI)

Huge thank you for your flexible support of the work we are doing to improve access and delivery of evidence based rehabilitation for people with bone and joint illness/injury. Your support of clinical academics in training on our team is so valuable and very much appreciated!

From: Katie Sheehan (BI)

To: Dr Mel Ramasawmy (WIPH)

Thank you for all your hard work on both the MODE project and SHARE project this year. Appreciate there is so much work behind the scenes for getting ready for our workshop and it does not go unnoticed – thank you!

From: Suzanne Scott (WIPH)

To: Dr Hannah (WIPH)

Despite everything that's been going on in the last 6 months, you've been a huge asset to DISTINCT and I'm so glad you're in the team. Thank you for your positive attitude, hard work and commitment - we really appreciate it.

From: Jo (WIPH)

To: Dr Xu Chen (DERI)

Xu, you’re building hearts of the future! Your digital cardiac twins (from hypertension to ACS) are pumping fresh ideas into cardiovascular AI. Thanks for keeping our research beating strong — we appreciate you!

From: Greg Slabaugh (DERI)

To: Dr Avinash Chandra

Thank you for all you do to support the CPN and our dementia team. Your collegiality, mentorship, and positivity really makes a difference.

From: Laura Smith (WIPH)

To: Dr Tong Liu (WHRI)

Dear Tong, You are such an intelligent man, self-motivated with excellent problem-solving skills. Thank you also for being so collegial in the lab, it’s clear you’re a very likeable person! Jianmin

From: Jianmin Chen (WHRI)

To: Dr Ellie (WIPH)

Thank you for being willing to take on new things, for your dedication and hard work, and for always being so smiley and enthusiastic. You make such a positive contribution and we're lucky to have you!

From: Jo (WIPH)

To: Dr Mohammed Hussain (WHRI)

Mo, aside from being one of the smartest scientists I know, you also always know how to cheer me up even on the most stressful of days. Thank you!

From: Millie (WHRI)

To: Dr Lucy (WIPH)

Thank you for all your hard work on DETECT-2, your ever positive outlook and can-do attitude. It's such a pleasure working with you!

From: Jo (WIPH)

To: Dr Patricia Garrido (BI)

Thanks for all the work you do to represent postdocs in the Blizard and Whitechapel

From: Aoife (BI)

To: Dr Elizabeth George (SPCS)

Dear Elizabeth as you come to the end of your time with us I would like to thank you for all your hard work on our project. Best wishes, Peter

From: Peter Hobson (SPCS)

To: Dr Matthew Battley

It's been fantastic working with you over the past year, Matt! Thank you for bringing your expertise and ideas to the group, looking forward to finding more young planets together!

From: Cynthia Ho (SPCS)

To: Dr Kero Guynes (BI)

Very happy that you have joined our lab. Thank you for the enthusiasm and energy you have brought to the team. Very excited for the time ahead.

From: Miguel Branco (BI)

To: Dr Harriet Quinn-Scoggins (WIPH)

Thank you for being such a friendly and supportive colleague, Harriet! I've learnt so much from you already in this role and I'm really looking forward to working together over the next few years.

From: Stefanie Bonfield (WIPH)

To: Dr Christina Derksen (WIPH)

Thank you so much for all your hard work across multiple projects this year. Your enthusiasm and efficiency are fantastic and you are always a much appreciated source of help to others throughout our centre – thank you!

From: Suzanne Scott (WIPH)

To: Dr Sammy El-Mansi (WHRI)

Thanks so much Sammy. Bits of this year have been particularly tough and your help, enthusiasm, hardwork and laughs have made it all bearable.

From: Tom (WHRI)

To: Dr Nick Day (WHRI)

Nick, thanks for a great addition to the group over the last year - always there to help, and with pearls of wisdom for any problem!

From: Millie (WHRI)

To: Dr Elisa Passoni (STA)

Elisa: Thank you for your superhuman contributions across all things GLE, your amazing skills, and your readiness to wear so many hats on the project!

From: Devyani Sharma (STA)

To: Dr Christina (WIPH)

Even though we don't work on projects together, I really appreciate your collegiality and everything you bring to the behavioural science team, from organising journal clubs to contributing to systematic reviews (not to mention cake!). We're lucky to have you in the group!

From: Jo (WIPH)

To: Dr Fanny Boulet (BI)

Thanks for being such a great friend and colleague. Your support means a lot

From: Aoife (BI)

To: Dr Charlotte (WIPH)

Thank you for everything you're doing on SPOTLIGHT. We're all on a steep learning curve and I appreciate you going out of your comfort zone and bringing your ideas and enthusiasm to the project. It's always a joy to work with you!

From: Jo (WIPH)

To: Dr Harriet (WIPH)

You've made a flying start on PERSPECTIVES! We couldn't have asked for a better team to be working on the project and feel very lucky to have you. Your hard work, organisation and expertise are hugely appreciated!

From: Jo (WIPH)

To: Dr Ruth Evans (WIPH)

Thank you for your all your hard work getting the OPTIMISE USC interviews study up and running alongside all the other wonderful things you are involved in. Your hard work and dedication is much appreciated - thank you!

From: Suzanne Scott (WIPH)

To: Dr Rebecca Mbewe (WIPH)

Thank you for joining us on the academic journey, Rebecca, and for sharing you wisdom and enthusiasm with the team for all these years!

From: Sara Paparini (WIPH)

To: Dr Jonathan Burden

Jon is a helpful supportive post doc. He is passionate at his project and excited with the discovery that he made. He is willing to share his knowledge and wisdom, and he is very patient when explaining his project and experiments.

From: Betty Tse (BCI)

To: Dr Nicola Vickaryous

Thank you for all you do the support the MS team an the CPN more widely. Your lab mentorship has been invaluable to us!

From: Laura Smith (WIPH)

To: Dr Deepak Chahal

Welcome to the group, Deepak! Thanks for sharing your expertise with us during our group meetings, looking forward to working together in the future!

From: Cynthia Ho (SPCS)

To: Dr Helen Jones (BI)

Thanks for being such a great rep for postdocs in GCH and the Blizard, and for all you do on the Whitechapel postdoc committee. It's been great working as postdoc rep with you.

From: Aoife (BI)

To: Dr Mahmoud Ehnesh

Thanks for supporting our atrial fibrillation research projects and for helping all of PCM lab.

From: Caroline Roney (SEMS)