Jamie holds a Doctorate in Computer Science (Distributed and High-performance Computing applied to Scientific Research) in addition to a Masters in Pharmacy and Chemistry. Jamie was awarded his Ph.D. for his Research at the Centre of Systems and Synthetic Biology (CSSB), Department of Computer Science at Royal Holloway, University of London (doctoral supervisor: Prof. Hugh Shanahan).

Jamie's areas of expertise and research interests include: DNA-Storage, Next Generation DNA and RNA sequencing, Large-scale and Distributed Computing, High Performance Computing (HPC), Software Engineering, Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Neuroscience and Pharmacology. He has published a number of research papers on these disciplines and presented results at various conferences. He has 4 years of teaching experience (visiting lecturer) at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels and has co-ordinated and organised specialised training for post-doctoral researchers. Jamie's portfolio sub-sections showcase his projects in further detail.

Currently, Jamie works at NatureMetrics, in the Bioinformatics Infrastructure Team, developing and maintaining computational data pipelines for metabarcoding and metagenomic data, across multiple sequencing platforms for global biodiversity analysis services (eDNA sampling kits). Development of these computational pipeliens is predominantly using NextFlow, BASH, Python and is both on-prem. and on AWS.

Previously, Jamie worked in the SCALE Lab at Imperial College London where he works on pioneering research into encoding and storing digital data withhin DNA, in order to provide a high-capacity, future storage technology with long-term archival properties.



Initially, Jamie started working commercially in software development. However, his passion for science, in particular chemistry, led him into the medical field where he obtained a Masters in Pharmacy (M.Pharm) — a joint course run by Kingston University and St. Georges Hospital Medical School. Jamie then pursued and obtained his doctorate in Computer Science at Royal Holloway, thereby reconciling his scientific and computing backgrounds.

  

Computer programming / Research Software Engineering

In Jamie's computer programming career, his recent focus has been on Research Software Engineering, working at the ICR (Institute of Cancer Research). There he provided consulting in software engineering, High-performance computing and Workflow languages to support researchers.


Jamie also specialises in OOP (Object Orientated programming) languages utilising predominantly the Java, Python, Delphi, and C/C++ programming languages. In the commercial arena he's also worked with SQL — predominantly MySQL and Oracle Client/Server, and n-tier systems as well as PL/SQL running directly on Oracle RDBMS. Jamie has also developed and maintains a number of database-driven web projects in PHP/MySQL.

In his academic career Jamie has taught and undertaken marking of various BSc Computer Science modules to undergraduate students, such as Java Object Orientated Programming, Robotics, and Computer Graphics. Jamie delivered the guest lecture at Royal Holloway for the Bioinformatics (CS3110/CS5110) module. This focused on Next-Generation Sequencing and Transcriptomics [ Read Overview ]. Jamie also assisted with the delivery/teaching of a the large-scale data storage analysis module of the MSc Data Science to postgraduate students — read more about this on his Royal Holloway site.

Of particular interest to Jamie is the application of Computer science to Chemical, Biological and Medical problems. This has manifested in a number of projects that he has been actively developing (See IT Portfolio and Research).


Aviation and Pilot Training

Since a young age, Jamie has nurtured a deep interest in aviation. During his Pilot Training in the UK (CAA, Civil Aviation Authority), he developed the world's most advanced flight computer app, E6BJA — an electronic version of the metal E6B slide-rule computer — which is now making a significant impact in General Aviation. E6BJA offers a wide range of features, from wind and diversion visualisation to descent and glide calculators, providing efficient and accurate solutions for complex aviation calculations. With its intuitive user interface, E6BJA has become an indispensable tool for pilots and aviation professionals.


Photography

Jamie is a keen photographer and has completed a Diploma in Photography with the Institute of Photography. He is also a member of the Royal Holloway Photography society.