Manon Owen
- Email: ummdo@leeds.ac.uk
- Thesis title: Examining the mechanisms responsible for altered foetal growth and the cardiometabolic health of offspring exposed to maternal diabetes.
- Supervisors: Dr Karen Forbes, Professor Eleanor Scott
Profile
I started the 4-year British Heart Foundation PhD programme at the University of Leeds in October 2020, after obtaining a First Class BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science at the University of Birmingham. I completed my BSc research project with the Microcirculation Research Group, focusing on the effects of inflammaging and ischaemia‑reperfusion injury in the coronary microcirculation. During my undergraduate studies, I completed an elective industrial placement year at the Cancer Research UK Centre for Drug Development, working on phase I/II oncology clinical trials as a student Quality Assurance and Medical Writing Assistant.
Research interests
I am interested in the influence of maternal diabetes on placental and foetal development, where infants are born large for gestational age. Particularly, my research focuses on the effects of Metformin on placental and foetal growth, as this therapy increases the risk of infants being born small for gestational age and showing signs of childhood obesity. I will investigate these effects by characterising maternal extracellular vesicle‑bound microRNAs and examining their influence on placental development.
Qualifications
- BSc (Hons), Biomedical Science, University of Birmingham (First Class)