About me
Experience:
Professor of Genome Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (ICL)
2015 -
2022
Wellcome Trust Investigator Award
2006 -
2013
Group Leader (MRC LMS)
2000 -
2006
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Postdoctoral Fellow (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratoy, USA)
1997 -
2000
PhD Biochemistry (Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Germany)
1995 -
1997
Diploma in Biochemistry (FU Berlin, Germany)
1991 -
1995
Research focus:
The group's objective is to discover new mechanisms in initiation of DNA replication and to understand the function of replication factors in hetero-chromatin formation and epigenetic memory. We employ truly interdisciplinary approaches including biochemistry, cryo-EM, high-resolution genomics, chemical biology, genetics, AlphaFold simulations and molecular dynamics simulations to obtain a holistic understanding of biological processes.
Joined LMS:
2006
About me:
The LMS is an outstanding place to work, collaborate and develop exciting research projects. As such, LMS researchers are ideally positioned to address big biological questions with medical relevance and to explore their translational potential. We particularly enjoy our day-to-day interactions with research groups focused on genome stability, gene regulation, epigenetics and chromosome organisation.
My awards and achievements:
2021 CRUK Discovery Research Award
2015 Wellcome Trust Investigator Award
2015 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology
2001 The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Postdoctoral Fellowship
1997 Max-Planck Society PhD Fellowship
Impact of my work:
We work with Clinicians at Imperial College to address how our newly identified regulatory principles are altered in disease. With the Imperial College London Chemistry Department, we exploit our biological & structural insights for inhibitor development. Together with DeepChain we use molecular dynamics simulations and AI-driven analysis to understand the function of multi-protein complexes.