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Hire Dr. Petra D.

United Kingdom

USD 130 /hr

Science writer | Gene Therapy | Oligonucleotide Therapeutics | Social Media | DE-EN scientific translation

Profile Summary

I am a freelance Science Writer with very wide ranging experience beyond research: contract writing scientific papers and meeting reports, teaching a university module on Gene Therapy, establishing the social media presence and educational webinars of a scientific society, grant review for the Rosetree's Trust, 15 years of translational research in the areas of oligonucleotide therapeutics, gene therapy and gene editing. Background in Virology, specifically coronaviral genetics.

Subject Matter Expertise

• ☆ Microbiology
• ☆ Virology
• ☆ Coronaviruses
• ☆ Retrovirology
• ☆ Adenoviruses
• ☆ Molecular Virology
• ☆ Biostatistics
• ☆ Biochemistry
• ☆ Immunoassay
• ☆ Biochemical Assays
• ☆ Enzyme Activity Assays
• ☆ Binding Assays
• ☆ Molecular Biology
• ☆ Genetics
• ☆ Omics
• ☆ Lipidomics
• ☆ Genomics
• ☆ PCR
• ☆ Molecular Cloning
• ☆ DNA Sequencing
• ☆ Gene Expression Analysis
• ☆ Mutagenesis
• ☆ Recombinant DNA
• ☆ RNA Synthesis
• ☆ Plasmid DNA
• ☆ DNA Damage & Repair
• ☆ Cell Biology
• ☆ Cell-Based Assays
• ☆ Cytochemistry
• ☆ Gene Regulation
• ☆ Biotechnology & Bioengineering
• ☆ Recombinant Protein Expression
• ☆ Microscopy
• ☆ Light Microscopy
• ☆ Fluorescence Microscopy
• ☆ Cell Culture
• ☆ Cell Line Engineering
• ☆ Biomolecular Engineering
• ☆ Gene Synthesis
• ☆ Genetic Engineering
• ☆ Gene Editing/CRISPR
• ☆ Gene Delivery
• ☆ Blotting
• ☆ Immunohistochemistry
• ☆ Cytometry
• ☆ Drug Development
• ☆ Preclinical Research
• ☆ Drug Efficacy Testing
• ☆ Endocrinology
• ☆ Cardiovascular Disease
• ☆ Vascular Medicine
• ☆ Rare Diseases
• ☆ Amyloidosis
• ☆ Gene Therapy

Services

• Writing
• Research
• Consulting
• Data & AI

Writing Copywriting, General Proofreading & Editing, Translation

Research Scientific and Technical Research, Systematic Literature Review

Consulting Digital Strategy Consulting, Scientific and Technical Consulting

Data & AI Statistical Analysis, Image Processing, Image Analysis, Data Visualization, Data Processing, Data Insights

Work Experience

Grant reviewer and panelist

Rosetree's Trust

November 2017 - Present

Hourly Paid Lecturer/Module Leader

Brunel University London, UK

September 2023 - July 2025

Medical / Science writer

Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society

March 2016 - June 2021

Senior Post-doctoral Research Associate

University College London, UK

June 2015 - August 2017

Post-Doctoral Research Associate

University College London, UK

August 2014 - February 2015

Senior Post-doctoral Research Associate

University College London, UK

August 2012 - July 2014

Post-Doctoral Research Associate

University College London, UK

September 2009 - July 2012

Post-Doctoral Research Associate

Imperial College London, UK

October 2008 - August 2009

Graduate Research Assistant / Research Assistant

University of Oxford, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology

July 2001 - July 2004

Education

PhD in Gene Therapy

University College London, University of London - United Kingdom

September 2004 - October 2008

MSc

Julius-Maximilians-Universität of Würzburg

September 1997 - October 2000

Certifications

• Certification details not provided.

Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Godfrey, C., Desviat, L.R., Smedsrød, B., Piétri-Rouxel, F., Denti, M.A., Disterer, P., Lorain, S., Nogales-Gadea, G., Sardone, V., Anwar, R., et al.(2017). Delivery is key: Lessons learnt from developing splice-switching antisense therapies . EMBO Molecular Medicine.

Disterer P, Kay MA, Parker GC, Nucleic acid therapeutics, 2016, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 266-267, 2016 .

Theodoraki, A., Hu, Y., Poopalasundaram, S., Oosterhof, A., Guimond, S.E., Disterer, P., Khoo, B., Hauge-Evans, A.C., Jones, P.M., Turnbull, J.E., et al.(2015). Distinct patterns of heparan sulphate in pancreatic islets suggest novel roles in paracrine islet regulation . Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology. 399. p. 296-310.

Theodoraki A, Hu Y, Poopulasuntharam S, Osteonhof A, Guimond SE, Disterer P, Khoo B, Hauge-Evans AC, Jones PM, Turnbull JE, Kuppevelt TV, Bouloux PM, Molecular and cellular endocrinology, 2014 .

Disterer P, Kryczka A, Liu Y, Badi YE, Wong JJ, Owen JS, Khoo B, Human gene therapy, 2014 .

Disterer, P., Kryczka, A., Liu, Y., Badi, Y.E., Wong, J.J., Owen, J.S., Khoo, B.(2014). Development of therapeutic splice-switching oligonucleotides . Human Gene Therapy. 25. (7). p. 587-598.

Disterer, P., Al-Shawi, R., Ellmerich, S., Waddington, S.N., Owen, J.S., Simons, J.P., Khoo, B.(2013). Exon skipping of hepatic APOB pre-mRNA with splice-switching oligonucleotides reduces LDL cholesterol In Vivo . Molecular Therapy. 21. (3). p. 602-609.

Simons, J.P., Al-Shawi, R., Ellmerich, S., Speck, I., Aslam, S., Hutchinson, W.L., Mangione, P.P., Disterer, P., Gilbertson, J.A., Hunt, T., et al.(2013). Pathogenetic mechanisms of amyloid A amyloidosis . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 110. (40). p. 16115-16120.

Disterer, P., Papaioannou, I., Evans, V.C., Paul Simons, J., Owen, J.S.(2012). Oligonucleotide-mediated gene editing is underestimated in cells expressing mutated green fluorescent protein and is positively associated with target protein expression . Journal of Gene Medicine. 14. (2). p. 109-119.

Papaioannou, I., Disterer, P., Owen, J.S.(2009). Use of internally nuclease-protected single-strand DNA oligonucleotides and silencing of the mismatch repair protein, MSH2, enhances the replication of corrected cells following gene editing . Journal of Gene Medicine. 11. (3). p. 267-274.

Disterer, P., Simons, J.P., Owen, J.S.(2009). Validation of oligonucleotide-mediated gene editing . Gene Therapy. 16. (6). p. 824-826.

Baskakov, I., Disterer, P., Breydo, L., Shaw, M., Gill, A., James, W., Tahiri-Alaoui, A.(2005). The presence of valine at residue 129 in human prion protein accelerates amyloid formation . FEBS Letters. 579. (12). p. 2589-2596.

Tahiri-Alaoui, A., Gill, A.C., Disterer, P., James, W.(2004). Methionine 129 variant of human prion protein oligomerizes more rapidly than the valine 129 variant. Implications for disease susceptibility to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease . Journal of Biological Chemistry. 279. (30). p. 31390-31397.

Rhie, A., Kirby, L., Sayer, N., Wellesley, R., Disterer, P., Sylvester, I., Gill, A., Hope, J., James, W., Tahiri-Alaoui, A.(2003). Characterization of 2′-fluoro-RNA aptamers that bind preferentially to disease-associated conformations of prion protein and inhibit conversion . Journal of Biological Chemistry. 278. (41). p. 39697-39705.

Thiel, V., Karl, N., Schelle, B., Disterer, P., Klagge, I., Siddell, S.G.(2003). Multigene RNA vector based on coronavirus transcription . Journal of Virology. 77. (18). p. 9790-9798.

BOOK

Disterer, P., Khoo, B.(2012). Antisense-mediated exon-skipping to induce gene knockdown . Methods in Molecular Biology. 867. p. 289-305.

Disterer, P., Osman, E., Owen, J.S.(2008). Gene therapy for apolipoprotein A-I and HDL - The ultimate treatment for atherosclerosis . Vascular Complications in Human Disease: Mechanisms and Consequences. p. 197-212.