Rekha Parmar

Profile

 

I am a Registered Scientist with the Science Council and a member of the Institute of Science and Technology, and have 30+ publications. I currently work in the Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine under Prof. Conaghan and also Assistant Prof. Frederique Ponchel. Over the last 25 years at the university , I have worked in several areas in health and medicine some of which include Virology, Immunology, Biochemistry and Genetics.
My expertise includes flow cytometry ( specialising in T cells ), tissue culture ( including magnetic cell sorting and proliferation assays), virus production and purification ( Adenovirus, Herpes simplex 1 ), protein work ( western blotting, acrylamide gels, protein isolation and purification, FPLC) molecular ( DNA/RNA extractions, sequencing, cloning, transfections, qPCR)
I contribute to design and development of new methods and the analysis of data for on-going research projects and provide support for PhD, MSc and ERASMUS students
In addition, I also manage the labs for LIRMM at the SJUH site, for staff /students. The role Includes responsibilities for health and safety , inductions and training for new staff/ students , planning for use of resources for labs and offices, purchasing of new equipment and maintenance /operation of the labs.

Currently, I am investigating if quantitative methylation specific PCR of certain genes can be used as a biomarker for predicting Methotrexate(MTX) response in osteoarthritis. It has already been successfully shown that this assay can potentially be employed to differentiate between good and poor responders of MTX in RA and so the study has now extended to test its potential use in OA 

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Qualifications

• BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences

Professional memberships

• Science Council
• Institute Of Science and Technology

Research groups and institutes

• Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine