Dr Ellen Liggett

Ellen completed her PhD in Chemistry at the University of Manchester under Professor Perdita Barran (2024). With her PhD starting in the pandemic, initial research focused on using proteomics to detect SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples. Following this her research returned to advanced MS techniques to study whole viruses for gene therapy applications. Her postdoctoral work in the group included implementation of novel charge detection-MS instrumentation as well as mass photometry analysis of drug target proteins. Ellen’s current research is funded by the BHF Leicester Centre of Research Excellence and will combine her analytical MS skillset with the cardiovascular expertise here at Leicester to further the theme of Interventions.

(1) Venables, M.; Hicks, E.; Bowden, J.; Hoare, T.; Deakin, F.; Jones, M. E.; Mohd Khairi, I.; Lawrence, R.; Barchha Radia, R.; Kholihur Rahman, Md.; Walkden, J.; Black, R.; Liggett, E. N.; Stuchfield, D.; Wang, X.; Poree, C.; Burton, N. A.; Geue, N.; Barran, P. E. The Interplay of Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry and Computational Modeling for Structure Elucidation of Small Molecules: An Upper-Level Undergraduate Experiment. J. Chem. Educ. 2025, 102 (11), 4776–4785. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c00253.

(2) Liggett, E.; Richardson, K.; Langridge, D.; Giles, K.; Anderson, I.; Pacholarz, K.; Getty, P.; Walker, M.; Ujma, J.; Barran, P. Measuring Size and Shape Heterogeneity in AAVs with Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry. ChemRxiv 2025 (0110). https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-k3g05.

(3) Anderson, N. L.; Bailey, A.; Barran, P.; Brownbridge, P.; Cain, K.; Carling, R. S.; Cramer, R.; Dalton, R. N.; Daly, M. E.; Davis, K.; Doykov, I.; Dueñas, M. E.; Emmott, E.; Eyers, C. E.; Gajbhiye, A.; Geary, B.; Gupta, P.; Hällqvist, J.; Hartmane, E.; Heales, S.; Heunis, T.; Heywood, W.; Hollywood, K. A.; Jenkins, R. E.; Jones, D. J.; Keevil, B.; Krenkel, H.; Lane, D.; Lane, C. S.; Lellman, S.; Liggett, E. N.; Meng, X.; Mills, C.; Mills, K.; Nalbant, A. A.; Ng, L. L.; Nicholas, B.; Noels, D.; Pearson, T. W.; Pitt, A.; Pope, M. E.; Porter, A.; Preston, G. W.; Razavi, M.; Shapanis, A.; Sidgwick, F. R.; Singh, R.; Skipp, P.; Speiss, R.; Spiewak, J.; Tierney, A. L.; Trivedi, D.; Trost, M.; Unwin, R. D.; Wainwright, L.; Walton-Doyle, C.; Whetton, A. D.; Wilks, S.; Yip, R. Development and Translation of a Method of Clinical Utility for LC-MS/MS Analysis to Detect SARS-CoV-2 Antigens from ONP Swabs and Saliva. ChemRxiv 2024 (0902). https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv-2024-4t52c.

(4) Brudenell, E. L.; Pohare, M. B.; Zafred, D.; Phipps, J.; Hornsby, H. R.; Darby, J. F.; Dai, J.; Liggett, E.; Cain, K. M.; Barran, P. E.; de Silva, T. I.; Sayers, J. R. Efficient Overexpression and Purification of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Nucleocapsid Proteins in Escherichia Coli. Biochem. J. 2024, 481 (11), 669–682. https://doi.org/10.1042/BCJ20240019.

(5) Peris-Díaz, M. D.; Barkhanskiy, A.; Liggett, E.; Barran, P.; Krężel, A. Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry and Molecular Dynamics Simulations Unravel the Conformational Stability of Zinc Metallothionein-2 Species. Chem. Commun. 2023, 59 (30), 4471–4474. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CC06559B.

(6) Peris-Díaz, M. D.; Wu, S.; Mosna, K.; Liggett, E.; Barkhanskiy, A.; Orzeł, A.; Barran, P.; Krężel, A. Structural Characterization of Cu(I)/Zn(II)-Metallothionein-3 by Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry and Top-Down Mass Spectrometry. Anal. Chem. 2023, 95 (29), 10966–10974. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.3c00989.