Janet Lovett

Dr. Janet Lovett is a Senior Lecturer at the University of St Andrews' School of Physics and Astronomy, affiliated with the Biomedical Sciences Research Complex. She holds an MChem from the University of Oxford (2002) and a DPhil (2006). Her research program focuses on developing Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy techniques to measure nanometre-scale distances in proteins and nucleic acids for structural biology applications.

Her research interests center on:

• Developing advanced EPR methodologies including pulsed and high-field techniques
• Designing novel spin labels for biomolecular tagging
• Investigating protein excretion mechanisms
• Structural analysis of biomolecular complexes
• Applications in structural biology and biophysics

Dr. Lovett's recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on methodological advancements in EPR spectroscopy, particularly in spin label development (including spirocyclic nitroxides) and their application to challenging biological systems. Her work frequently combines experimental spectroscopy with computational approaches and has applications in medical imaging contrast agent development.

She currently supervises PhD students including Elena Mocanu and leads multiple funded research projects. Dr. Lovett has secured grants from EPSRC and BBSRC for projects including:

• Supramolecular Structure Predictions Validated from Sparse Experimental Data (EPSRC, 2022-2025)
• Enabling Shaped Pulse Capability for Biological Structural Determination (BBSRC, 2020-2021)
• Cryogen-free arbitrary waveform EPR for structural Biology (2018-2019)

She utilizes the advanced EPR facilities at St Andrews, including pulsed and CW X-band, high-power Q-band, and the custom-built HiPER W-band spectrometers. Dr. Lovett participates in academic service through peer review panels and organizes outreach activities including the annual PandA Christmas Lecture.