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Dr Alex Holmes

Dr Alex Holmes

  • Position: Teaching Fellow in Physiology
  • Areas of expertise: Teaching and Scholarship; Biomedical Sciences Education; Education; Pharmacology; Biochemistry; Biophysics
  • Email: A.Holmes@leeds.ac.uk
  • Location: 7.60a Garstang Building (South)
  • Website: Twitter | LinkedIn | ORCID

Profile

I have been a Teaching Fellow in Physiology at the University of Leeds since December 2022, based in the School of Biomedical Sciences within the Faculty of Biological Sciences. I am responsible for delivering, planning and assessing educational activities for undergraduate students in the faculty. Prior to this position, I completed a BBSRC White Rose DTP funded PhD studentship supervised by Dr Antreas Kalli, Dr Jian Shi and Prof David Beech, in which I worked towards determining the structure, function and dynamics of two membrane proteins: membrane-integral pyrophosphatases and PIEZO1. This project centred around the use of novel computational and laboratory-based techniques. 

Research interests

Public Engagement and Science Communication

Alongside my teaching, I am a keen practitioner and champion of Public Engagement and Science Communication. I am currently the Yorkshire Chapter manager for Pint of Science, an annual international science festival comprised of informal talks in pubs and similar venues. I have been working with Pint of Science since 2018 in various roles from volunteer, event manager and City Coordinator. Some of the recent Leeds shows I coordinated are available to view here:

Food for Thought

Mind Body and Tech

Hear Me Out

Science with a Capital “S”

I currently manage the Leeds, Hull, Bradford and York teams.
I have also worked with The Global Science Show as European Coordinator, and taken part in Letters to Prescientists, STEM@Leeds School Talks, Skype a Scientist, In2Science, Generating Genius, Be Curious and Discovery Zone. I have also developed and performed an original science show: Big and Small. 

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://biologicalsciences.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

  • MBiol - Pharmacology
  • PhD - Mechanistic Biology

Professional memberships

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Student education

I am module manager for BMSC 1214 Human Endocrinology and teaching on a variety of other modules in the School of Biomedical Sciences. I have been involved in teaching activity since the beginning of my PhD. This has involved marking short and long form answers, designing and planning tutorial sessions, supporting learning and teaching in person, online and in practical classes and developing learning environments online and in person. I primarily work with undergraduates, but also have taught several PhD students how to set up and analyse molecular dynamics simulations.