Susan Howitt

Susan Howitt

Susan’s main research interest was in how transporters function, with the aim of understanding their molecular mechanisms. Her team used heterologous expression systems to characterize transporters, their mutant variants that have been generated by site-directed mutagenesis or random methods and to determine transmembrane topology.  This allows researchers to characterise transporter function and test hypotheses about which regions of the transporter are important for function.

Susan’s research has covered a range of different proteins including nutrient transporters from plants and cyanobacteria to neurotransmitter receptors.  Her current research has led to the development of the first heterologous expression system for cyanobacterial bicarbonate transporters, leading to an analysis of their structure and function.

Susan also undertook educational research which addressed assessing the effectiveness of student research experiences, with the aim of identifying student views of scientific research and how this impacts on learning from undergraduate research projects.

See more details about Susan Howitt’s research and career

Susan was part of the Centre from 2014 to 2020