Stephen’s research focuses on using structural biology to better understand protein structure and function and how this can underpin therapeutic development. He graduated from the University of Sheffield with a BSc in Biochemistry and Microbiology and subsequently studied for a PhD in X-ray crystallography within the group of Prof David Rice also at the University of Sheffield. He moved to the University of Leeds to do a post-doctoral position in single particle cryoEM. After receiving an MRC-CDA fellowship he took on a lectureship at the University of Leeds where he continues to work on membrane protein structural biology and the development of time-resolved methodologies.

Keywords: Structural biology, electron microscopy, membrane proteins, structure based drug design and time-resolved methodologies

Filippo received a BSc in Biological Sciences and an MSc in Molecular Biology from the University of Siena (Siena, Italy). He carried out a PhD in Biochemistry under the supervision of Professor Annalisa Pastore, as part of a joint project between the University of Siena (Siena, Italy) and the National Institute for Medical Research-MRC (London, UK). After a successful postdoc at Imperial College London (London, UK), he became a Lecturer in 2015 and a Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry in 2020 at the University of Essex. Filippo’s research focuses on the characterisation of protein complexes that are part of signalling pathways, in normal and cancer cells. His goal is to understand how the molecular machines that compose signalling pathways work together to transfer information.

Keywords: X-ray crystallography, NMR, protein interactions, characterization of signaling pathways, structure based drug design

Ogundolie Frank had his Bachelor, Master and PhD degrees in Applied Biochemistry from The Federal University of Technology, Akure Nigeria. After that, he had a six-month postdoctoral training under the Distinguish Professor of Applied Biochemistry, Dr Olajuyigbe Folasade at the Enzyme Biotechnology Laboratory, FUTA. He is currently a lecturer/researcher at Baze University Abuja, Nigeria. His research experience focused on Enzyme Technology, Environmental Health, metabolic engineering and molecular biology. He is a member of several local and international professional bodies.

Vicky studied Chemistry at the University of Oxford where she received her MChem and was first introduced to protein NMR. She stayed on at Oxford to do her DPhil and some post-doctoral work in this area before moving to the Leibniz-Institut für Pharmakologie in Berlin where she switched from solution to solid-state NMR of proteins. After further stints at the Universities of Oxford and Bristol she moved to the University of Leicester in 2019 where she joined the Collaborative Computational Project for NMR (CCPN). She now is now involved in developing software for the biomolecular NMR community, supporting the work of academic and industrial scientists globally.

Keywords: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, protein structure and dynamics, protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions

Rohit Jain is fascinated by structural changes in proteins, while they perform biochemical functions. Rohit is enabling development of wearable biosensors for fatigue monitoring in Air Force personnel by characterizing the molecular interactions between human biomarkers and their biological recognition elements (BREs) at single residue level. In parallel, he is using trifluoromethylation chemistry to increase the structural resolution of X-ray protein footprinting. Rohit has expertise in biophysical techniques like Mass spectrometry, Protein footprinting with hydrogen-deuterium exchange and covalent labeling, and X-ray scattering. He received his PhD in Biophysics from Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany and then trained as a postdoctoral associate at University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA. He is currently a senior research associate at Case Western Reserve University, USA. 

Keywords: Protein chemistry, Protein folding, Protein footprinting, Mass Spectrometry, Structural Biology 

Tony’s research focusses on the eukaryotic DNA damage response (DDR) as well as the large macromolecular Smc5/6 complex. He graduated from the University of Portsmouth with a BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology, and a PhD in Biophysics under the direction of the late Prof Geoff Kneale. He then moved to the Institute of Cancer Research in London, as a post-doctoral training fellow working with Prof Laurence H. Pearl FRS. After relocation of the laboratory to the Genome Damage and Stability Centre, University of Sussex in 2010, he set up his own independent group, and is currently employed as a Faculty Senior Research Fellow (equivalency to Reader).  He participates in initiatives to support mental health and well-being in the workplace, as well as Life Science students and colleagues identifying as LGBTQ+.

Keywords: Structural Biology, Biophysics, DNA Damage Repair (DDR)

Naomi Pollock is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in Membrane Protein Biochemistry.

Naomi graduated with an MBiochem from the University of Oxford in 2007 and stayed there for a DPhil in membrane protein biochemistry. Since then she has continued her research in this area at the universities of Manchester, Warwick and Birmingham. Her current focus is on novel technologies for membrane protein purification and stabilisation working under the supervision of Professor Tim Dafforn. 

Keywords: Membranes, proteins, biotechnology

Jeremy completed his undergraduate and PhD at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He then started a postdoctoral position at the University of Auckland examining human antiretroviral proteins. In his second postdoctoral position he moved to The Division of Structural Biology at the University of Oxford to investigate the function of the influenza virus polymerase. Jeremy remains in Oxford where, in addition to his research position, is a junior research fellow at St Cross College.

Keywords: Structural Biology, RNA viruses, Biochemistry, Protein-protein interactions