Current Lab Members

Dmitry graduated from St. Petersburg State University, Russia, majoring in the Genetics of Microorganisms. His Diploma work was dedicated to studying translation fidelity mutants in budding yeast. He received Ph.D. in Immunology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (Laboratory of Prof. Richard Gaynor, Ph.D. Thesis “Tat-Associated Kinases and Their Role in the Regulation of HIV Transcription”). He then moved to Austria and investigated the mechanisms of sister chromatid cohesion as a postdoc in the laboratory of Prof. Kim Nasmyth at the time located at the Institute for Molecular Pathology in Vienna. He was a group leader at the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck Society in Tuebingen, Germany, and continued his research as a principal investigator at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore. Dmitry joined the IBS in October 2019.

Publications:

• Ivanov D, Hwang T, Sitko LK, Lee S, Gartner A. (2023) Experimental systems for the analysis of mutational signatures: no 'one-size-fits-all' solution. Biochem Soc Trans 51 (3): 1307-1317. Link to paper

• Chavda A.P., Ang, K., and Ivanov, D. (2017) The torments of the cohesin ring. Nucleus 8, 261-267. Link to paper

• Huber, R.G., Kulemzina, I., Ang, K., Chavda, A.P., Suranthran, S., Teh, J.-T., Kenanov, D., Liu, G., Rancati, G., Szmyd, R., Kaldis, P., Bond, P.J., and Ivanov, D. (2016) Impairing Cohesin Smc1/3 Head Engagement Compensates for the Lack of Eco1 Function. Structure 24, 1991-1999. Link to paper

• Kulemzina, I., Ang, K., Zhao, X., Teh, J.-T., Verma, V., Suranthran, S., Chavda, A.P., Huber, R.G., Eisenhaber, B., Eisenhaber, F., Yan, J., and Ivanov, D. (2016) A reversible association between Smc coiled coils is regulated by lysine acetylation and is required for cohesin loading on the DNA. Mol. Cell 63, 1044-1054. Link to paper

• Kulemzina, I., Schumacher, M.R., Verma, V., Reiter, J., Metzler, J., Failla, A.V., Lanz, C., Sreedharan, V.T., Rätsch, G., and Ivanov, D. (2012) Cohesin rings devoid of Scc3 and Pds5 maintain their stable association with the DNA. PLoS Genetics 8(8): e1002856. Link to paper

• Lochmann, B., and Ivanov, D. (2012) Histone H3 localizes to the centromeric DNA in budding yeast. PLoS Genetics 8(5): e1002739. Link to paper

• Ivanov, D., and Nasmyth, K. (2007) A physical assay for sister chromatid cohesion in vitro. Mol. Cell 27, 300-310. Link to paper

• Ivanov, D., and Nasmyth, K. (2005) A topological interaction between cohesin rings and a circular minichromosome. Cell 122, 849-860. Link to paper

• Ivanov, D., Schleiffer, A., Eisenhaber, F., Mechtler, K., Haering, C.H. and Nasmyth, K. (2002) Eco1 is a novel acetyltransferase that can acetylate proteins involved in cohesion. Current Biology 12, 323-328. Link to paper

• Ivanov, D., Kwak, Y.T., Guo, J., and Gaynor, R.B. (2000) Domains in the SPT5 protein that modulate its transcriptional regulatory properties. Mol. Cell. Biol. 20, 2970-2983. Link to paper

• Kwak, Y.T., Ivanov, D., Guo, J., Nee, E., and Gaynor, R.B. (1999) Role of the human and murine cyclin T proteins in regulating HIV-1 Tat-activation. J. Mol. Biol. 288, 57-69. Link to paper

• Ivanov, D., Kwak, Y.T., Nee, E., Guo, J., Garcia-Martinez, L.F., and Gaynor, R.B. (1999) Cyclin T domains involved in complex formation with Tat and TAR RNA are critical for Tat-transactivation. J. Mol. Biol. 288, 41-56. Link to paper

• Garcia-Martinez, L.F., Mavankal, G., Neveu, J.M., Lane, W.S., Ivanov, D., and Gaynor, R.B. (1997) Purification of a Tat-associated kinase reveals a TFIIH complex that modulates HIV-1 transcription. EMBO J. 16, 2836-2850. Link to paper

• Garcia-Martinez, L.F., Ivanov, D., and Gaynor, R.B. (1997) Association of Tat with purified HIV-1 and HIV-2 transcription preinitiation complexes. J. Biol. Chem. 272, 6951-6958. Link to paper

Stéphane received his Doctorat (Ph.D.) in Molecular Microbiology in 2004 at the University of Lyon (France) under the supervision of Prof. Christophe Bruel. From 2005 to 2011, as a postdoc with Prof. Barbara Conradt at the Dartmouth Medical School (USA), Stéphane started to work with Caenorhabditis elegans focusing on the regulation of mitochondrial dynamics by BCL2-like proteins. In 2011, Stéphane moved to the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich (Germany) with Prof. Barbara Conradt and continued to work on different aspects of mitochondrial biology, first as a Postdoc/Teaching Assistant and then as a Researcher/Lecturer. In 2016, Stéphane received funding from the Deutsche Forschung Gemeinschaft and started to lead his independent research group, focusing on cellular organelle quality control. Stéphane joined the IBS in February 2020.

Publications:

1. Giulia Saredi, Francesco N. Carelli, Stéphane G. M. Rolland, Giulia Furlan, Sandra Piquet, Alex Appert, Luis Sanchez-Pulido, Jonathan L. Price, Pablo Alcon, Lisa Lampersberger, Anne-Cécile Déclais, Navin B. Ramakrishna, Rachel Toth, Thomas Macartney, Constance Alabert, Chris P. Ponting, Sophie E. Polo, Eric A. Miska, Anton Gartner, Julie Ahringer & John Rouse. (2024) The histone chaperone SPT2 regulates chromatin structure and function in Metazoa. Nature structural & molecular biology. Link to paper

2. Rolland, S.G.*; Conradt, B.* (2022) Genetic screen identifies non-mitochondrial proteins involved in the maintenance of mitochondrial homeostasis. microPublication Biology. 10.17912/micropub.biology.000562. Link to paper *Co-corresponding authors.

3. Haeussler, S., Yeroslaviz, A., Rolland, S.G.*, Luehr, S., Lambie, E.J., and Conradt, B.* (2021). Genome-wide RNAi screen for regulators of UPRmt in Caenorhabditis elegans mutants with defects in mitochondrial fusion. G3 Genes | Genomes | Genetics. Link to paper *Co-corresponding authors

4. Rackles, E., Witting, M., Forné, I., Zhang, X., Zacherl, J., Schrott, S., Fischer, C., Ewbank, J.J., Osman, C., Imhof, A. and Rolland, S.G. (2021). Reduced peroxisomal import triggers peroxisomal retrograde signaling. Cell Reports 34, 108653. Link to paper

5. Fischer, C.A., Besora-Casals, L., Rolland, S.G., Haeussler, S., Singh, K., Duchen, M., Conradt, B., and Marr, C. (2020). MitoSegNet: Easy-to-use Deep Learning Segmentation for Analyzing Mitochondrial Morphology. iScience 23, 101601. Link to paper

6. Haeussler, S., Köhler, F., Witting, M., Premm, M.F., Rolland, S.G., Fischer, C., Chauve, L., Casanueva, O., and Conradt, B. (2020). Autophagy compensates for defects in mitochondrial dynamics. PLoS genetics 16, e1008638. Link to paper

7. Basch, M., Wagner, M., Rolland, S., Carbonell, A., Zeng, R., Khosravi, S., Schmidt, A., Aftab, W., Imhof, A., Wagener, J., Conradt, B., and Wagener, N. (2020). Msp1 cooperates with the proteasome for extraction of arrested mitochondrial import intermediates. Mol Biol Cell 31, 753-767. Link to paper

8. Rolland, S.G.*, Schneid, S., Schwarz, M., Rackles, E., Fischer, C., Haeussler, S., Regmi, S.G., Yeroslaviz, A., Habermann, B., Mokranjac, D. Lambie, E. and Conradt B*. (2019). Compromised Mitochondrial Protein Import Acts as a Signal for UPRmt. Cell reports 28, 1659-1669. e1655. Link to paper *Co-corresponding authors. 

9. Wagner, A., Hofmeister, O., Rolland, S.G., Maiser, A., Aasumets, K., Schmitt, S., Schorpp, K., Feuchtinger, A., Hadian, K., Schneider, S., Zischka, H., Leonhardt, H., Conradt, B., Gerhold, J.M., and Wolf, A. (2019). Mitochondrial Alkbh1 localizes to mtRNA granules and its knockdown induces the mitochondrial UPR in humans and C. elegans. J Cell Sci 132. Link to paper

10. Regmi, S.G., and Rolland, S.G. (2017). New Imaging Tools to Analyze Mitochondrial Morphology in Caenorhabditis elegans. In Mitochondria (Springer), book chapter, pp. 255-272. Link to paper

11. Köhler, F., Müller-Rischart, A.K., Conradt, B.*, and Rolland, S.G.* (2015). The loss of LRPPRC function induces the mitochondrial unfolded protein response. Aging (Albany NY) 7, 701. Link to paper *Co-corresponding authors

12. Rolland, S.G. (2014). How to analyze mitochondrial morphology in healthy cells and apoptotic cells in Caenorhabditis elegans. In Methods in enzymology (Elsevier), book chapter, pp. 75-98. Link to paper

13. Regmi, S.G., Rolland, S.G., and Conradt, B. (2014). Age-dependent changes in mitochondrial morphology and volume are not predictors of lifespan. Aging (Albany NY) 6, 118. Link to paper

14. Vincelli, A.J., Pottinger, D.S., Zhong, F., Hanske, J., Rolland, S.G., Conradt, B., and Pletneva, E.V. (2013). Recombinant expression, biophysical characterization, and cardiolipin-induced changes of two Caenorhabditis elegans cytochrome c proteins. Biochemistry 52, 653-666. Link to paper

15. Rolland, S.G.*, Motori, E., Memar, N., Hench, J., Frank, S., Winklhofer, K.F., and Conradt, B.* (2013). Impaired complex IV activity in response to loss of LRPPRC function can be compensated by mitochondrial hyperfusion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110, E2967-E2976. Link to paper *Co-corresponding authors

16. Lu, Y., Rolland, S.G., and Conradt, B. (2011). A molecular switch that governs mitochondrial fusion and fission mediated by the BCL2-like protein CED-9 of Caenorhabditis elegans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108, E813-E822. Link to paper

17. Abdelwahid, E., Rolland, S., Teng, X., Conradt, B., Hardwick, J.M., and White, K. (2011). Mitochondrial involvement in cell death of non-mammalian eukaryotes. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA)-Molecular Cell Research 1813, 597-607. Link to paper

18. Rolland, S.G., and Conradt, B. (2010). New role of the BCL2 family of proteins in the regulation of mitochondrial dynamics. Current opinion in cell biology 22, 852-858. Link to paper

19. Rolland, S.G., Lu, Y., David, C.N., and Conradt, B. (2009). The BCL-2–like protein CED-9 of C. elegans promotes FZO-1/Mfn1, 2–and EAT-3/Opa1–dependent mitochondrial fusion. Journal of Cell Biology 186, 525-540. Link to paper

20. Rolland, S., Bruel, C., Rascle, C., Girard, V., Billon-Grand, G., and Poussereau, N. (2009). pH controls both transcription and post-translational processing of the protease BcACP1 in the phytopathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea. Microbiology 155, 2097-2105. Link to paper

21. Rolland, S.G., and Bruel, C.A. (2008). Sulphur and nitrogen regulation of the protease-encoding ACP1 gene in the fungus Botrytis cinerea: correlation with a phospholipase D activity. Microbiology 154, 1464-1473. Link to paper

22. Rolland, S., Hnatova, M., Lemaire, M., Leal-Sanchez, J., and Wésolowski-Louvel, M. (2006). Connection between the Rag4 glucose sensor and the KlRgt1 repressor in Kluyveromyces lactis. Genetics 174, 617-626. Link to paper

23. Rolland, S., and Conradt, B. (2006). The role of mitochondria in apoptosis induction in Caenorhabditis elegans: more than just innocent bystanders? Cell death and differentiation 13, 1281-1286. Link to paper

24. Kunz, C., Vandelle, E., Rolland, S., Poinssot, B., Bruel, C., Cimerman, A., Zotti, C., Moreau, E., Vedel, R., and Pugin, A. (2006). Characterization of a new, nonpathogenic mutant of Botrytis cinerea with impaired plant colonization capacity. New phytologist 170, 537-550. Link to paper

25. Rolland, S., Jobic, C., Fèvre, M., and Bruel, C. (2003). Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Botrytis cinerea, simple purification of monokaryotic transformants and rapid conidia-based identification of the transfer-DNA host genomic DNA flanking sequences. Current genetics 44, 164-171. Link to paper

Luthfiyyah completed her Bachelor and Professional degree of Pharmacy, focusing on Hospital and Community Pharmacy from the Universitas Indonesia. After moving to Korea and learning Korean for one year Luthfiyyah did an M.S. in Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Ulsan, South Korea. Right after her graduation, she worked as a researcher in Prof. Rina Yu's Laboratory. She joined the IBS in January 2020 and is responsible for Lab management. At the same time, she works as a Research Assistant.

Publication:

• Luthfiyyah Mutsnaini, Jihyeon Yang, Jiye Kim, Chu-Sook Kim, Chan-Hee Lee, Min-Seon Kim, Taesun Park, Tsuyoshi Goto, and Rina Yu. (2020). Filbertone Protects Obesity-induced Hypothalamic Inflammation by Reduction of Microglia-mediated Inflammatory Responses. Korean Soc Biotechnol Bioeng J. Link to paper

• Luthfiyyah Mutsnaini, Chu-Sook Kim, Jiye Kim, Yeonsoo Joe, Hun Taeg Chung, Hye-Seon Choi, Eun Roh, Min-Seon Kim, Rina Yu. (2019). Fibroblast growth factor 21 deficiency aggravates obesity-induced hypothalamic inflammation and impairs thermogenic response, Inflammation Research, 68:351–358. Link to paper

Junfang graduated from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, at the Chinese Academy of Sciences where she obtained the degree of Ph.D. in Genetics. Junfang moved to the UK and worked as a postdoc in Andrea Muensterberg lab, at the University of East Anglia, UK. Her project was to find out that how the migration of cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) was regulated in the early stage of vertebrate embryonic development. Her work resulted in the identification of crosstalk between signaling pathways providing a novel mechanism for controlling CPCs movement behavior. 

After taking a career break Junfang joined Anton Gartner's lab at the University of Dundee in Dec 2018, and is co-advised by John Rouse. Her work is to understand the role of junction-resolving enzymes in maintaining genome stability. Junfang is particularly interested in combining structural and biochemical approaches to uncover the mechanisms through which the resolvases process branched DNA structures.

Publications:

• Song, J., Freeman, A., Knebel, A., Gartner, A., & Lilley, D. (2020). Human ANKLE1 Is a Nuclease Specific for Branched DNA. J Mol Biol, 432(21), 5825–5834. Link to paper

• Song, J., McColl, J., Camp, E., Kennerley, N., Mok, G. F., McCormick, D., Grocott, T., Wheeler, G. N., & Münsterberg, A. E. (2014). Smad1 transcription factor integrates BMP2 and Wnt3a signals in migrating cardiac progenitor cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A,111(20), 7337–7342. Link to paper

• Song, J., Yue, Q., & Münsterberg, A. (2011). Time-lapse imaging of chick cardiac precursor cells. Methods Mol Biol, (Clifton, N.J.), 769, 359–372. Link to paper

Eduardo is originally from San Felipe, Chile. He graduated from the University of Valparaiso as a Medical technologist and mastered biomedical sciences in the same University. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2019 at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Biological Sciences working with Hugo Olguin’s group. Eduardo worked for almost five years in the Stem cell/regeneration field using as a model skeletal muscle before his interest shifts to study DNA damage mechanisms. He then moved to Dundee, Scotland to investigate the function of the nuclease ANKLE1 in mammalian cells as a postdoc in the laboratory of Professor Anton Gartner at the GRE department, in collaboration with John Rouse (MRC-PPU) of the University of Dundee. Eduardo is going to move to Korea in late spring 2021.

Publications: 

• de la Vega, E., González, N., Cabezas, F., Montecino, F., Blanco, N., & Olguín, H. (2020). Usp7‐Dependent control of myogenin stability is required for terminal differentiation in skeletal muscle progenitors. The FEBS Journal. Link to paper

• González, N., Moresco, J. J., Cabezas, F., de la Vega, E., Bustos, F., Yates III, J. R., & Olguín, H. C. (2016). Ck2-dependent phosphorylation is required to maintain Pax7 protein levels in proliferating muscle progenitors. PloS one, 11(5), e0154919. Link to paper

• Bustos, F., de la Vega, E., Cabezas, F., Thompson, J., Cornelison, D. D. W., Olwin, B. B., & Olguín, H. C. (2015). NEDD4 regulates PAX7 levels promoting activation of the differentiation program in skeletal muscle precursors. Stem Cells, 33(10), 3138-3151. Link to paper

• Ortiz, R., Navarrete, H., Navarrete, J., Párraga, M., Carrasco, I., de la Vega, E., & Blanchette, R. A. (2014). Deterioration, decay and identification of fungi isolated from wooden structures at the Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works: A World Heritage Site in Chile. International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, 86, 309-316. Link to paper

• Ortiz, Rodrigo, Mario Párraga, José Navarrete, Ivo Carrasco, Eduardo de la Vega, Manuel Ortiz, Paula Herrera, Joel A. Jurgens, Benjamin W. Held, and Robert A. Blanchette. "Investigations of biodeterioration by fungi in historic wooden churches of Chiloé, Chile." Microbial ecology 67, no. 3 (2014): 568-575. Link to paper

• Ortiz, R., Navarrete, J., Oviedo, C., Párraga, M., Carrasco, I., De La Vega, E., & Blanchette, R. A. (2013). White rot Basidiomycetes isolated from Chiloé National Park in Los Lagos region, Chile. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 104(6), 1193-1203. Link to paper

Emilio studied Chemistry with a major in Pharmacy and Biology at the University of Coahuila (UAC). He obtained his master's degree in Microbiology at the University of Nuevo Leon (UANL), and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Science from the National University of Mexico (UNAM). He’s been working with on C. elegans for more than 7 years, studying stress, germ cell homeostasis, and fertility. He is part of the Cellular Fail-Safe Mechanisms section under the advisory of Dr. Anton Gartner, working on the organismal effects of DNA damage caused by chemical and physical agents.

Publications: 

• Carranza-Garcia, E., and Navarro, R.E. (2019). Apoptosis contributes to protect germ cells from the oogenic germline starvation response but is not essential for the gonad shrinking or recovery observed during adult reproductive diapause in C. elegans. PLoS One 14, e0218265. Link to paper

• Carranza-Garcia, E., and Navarro, R.E. (2020). Insights Into the Hypometabolic Stage Caused by Prolonged Starvation in L4-Adult Caenorhabditis elegans Hermaphrodites. Frontiers in cell and developmental biology 8, 124. Link to paper

Peter graduated from the University of Dundee, where he obtained his integrated master’s in biomedical science. He is originally from Glasgow and is now studying for his combined masters-Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at UNIST. Peter joined the Lab in October, 2020.

Kichang graduated from Konkuk University, Korea in the Department of Biological Sciences. Kichang joined the IBS in November 2020 as an intern, and started his MS/Ph.D. combined course at UNIST in March 2021.

Nadin received her Dr. rer. nat. (Ph.D.) in Genetics and Developmental Biology in 2012 at the Technical University Braunschweig (Germany) under the supervision of Prof. Ralf Schnabel. Nadin started to work with Caenorhabditis elegans and got interested in how cells get positioned to form tissues during embryonic development. In 2011, Nadin moved to the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich (Germany) and started to work with Prof. Barbara Conradt. She got interested in the study of apoptosis in somatic tissues by using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system and worked as a Postdoc and Teaching Assistant. In 2020, Nadin moved with Prof Barbara Conradt’s group to the University College London (UK) where she continued her work. Nadin will join the IBS in April 2021.

Publications: 

• T. W. Mullan, T. Felton, J. Tam, O. Kasem, J. T. Yeung, N. Memar, R. Schnabel, and R. J. Poole. (2024) Control of successive unequal cell divisions by neural cell fate regulators determines embryonic neuroblast cell size. Development. Link to paper

• Yamaya K, Wang B, Memar N, Odiba AS, Woglar A, Gartner A, Villeneuve AM. (2023) Disparate roles for C. elegans DNA translocase paralogs RAD-54.L and RAD-54.B in meiotic prophase germ cells. Nucleic Acids Res, 638. Link to paper

• In vivo labeling of endogenous genomic loci in C. elegans using CRISPR/dCas9. Memar N, Sethi A, Luehr S, Lambie EJ, Conradt B. MicroPubl Biol. 2022 Dec 13;2022:10.17912/micropub.biology.000701. doi: 10.17912/micropub.biology.000701. eCollection 2022. PMID: 36606081. Link to paper

• Erpf, A.C., Stenzel, L., Memar, N., Antoniolli, M., Osepashvili, M., Schnabel, R., Conradt, B., and Mikeladze-Dvali, T. (2019). PCMD-1 Organizes Centrosome Matrix Assembly in C. elegans. Current Biology 29, 1324-1336 e1326. Link to paper

• Memar, N.*, Schiemann, S., Hennig, C., Findeis, D., Conradt, B., and Schnabel, R. (2019). Twenty million years of evolution: The embryogenesis of four Caenorhabditis species are indistinguishable despite extensive genome divergence. Developmental Biology 447, 182-199. Link to paper *Corresponding Author 

• Sherrard, R., Luehr, S., Holzkamp, H., McJunkin, K., Memar, N.*, and Conradt, B*. (2017). miRNAs cooperate in apoptosis regulation during C. elegans development. Genes & Development 31, 209-222. Link to paper *Co-corresponding Authors

• Mok, C.A., Au, V., Thompson, O.A., Edgley, M.L., Gevirtzman, L., Yochem, J., Lowry, J., Memar, N., Wallenfang, M.R., Rasoloson, D., et al. (2017). MIP-MAP: High-Throughput Mapping of Caenorhabditis elegans Temperature-Sensitive Mutants via Molecular Inversion Probes. Genetics 207, 447-463. Link to paper

• Schmokel, V., Memar, N., Wiekenberg, A., Trotzmuller, M., Schnabel, R., and Doring, F. (2016). Genetics of Lipid-Storage Management in Caenorhabditis elegans Embryos. Genetics 202, 1071-1083. Link to paper

• Roy, S.H., Tobin, D.V., Memar, N., Beltz, E., Holmen, J., Clayton, J.E., Chiu, D.J., Young, L.D., Green, T.H., Lubin, I., et al. (2014). A complex regulatory network coordinating cell cycles during C. elegans development is revealed by a genome-wide RNAi screen. G3 (Bethesda) 4, 795-804. Link to paper

• Rolland, S.G., Motori, E., Memar, N., Hench, J., Frank, S., Winklhofer, K.F., and Conradt, B. (2013). Impaired complex IV activity in response to loss of LRPPRC function can be compensated by mitochondrial hyperfusion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110, E2967-E2976. Link to paper

• Yan, B., Memar, N., Gallinger, J., and Conradt, B. (2013). Coordination of cell proliferation and cell fate determination by CES-1 snail. PLOS Genetics 9, e1003884. Link to paper

Hajoong graduated from the University of British Columbia with the Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry (Medical & Molecular biology). He joined IBS in August 2021 as an intern, and now studying for his integrated MS/Ph.D. course in Biological Sciences at UNIST since September 2021.

Gokul graduated from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal, where he obtained his Integrated Master's degree in Biological Sciences. He is originally from Kerala (The Venice of the East), India. Along with academia, he loves playing volleyball and drawing. He joined the Lab in October, 2021.

Publications:

• G, G., and Singh, J.* (2022). Dithiothreitol causes toxicity in C. elegans by modulating the methionine-homocysteine cycle. bioRxiv. eLife. eLife digest

• G, G., and Singh, J.* (2020). Extracellular Proteostasis: Laying Siege to Pathogens. Curr. Biol. 30, R1085-R1087. Link to paper

Fernanda is proudly from the South of Chile, where all the magic happens. She studied along with black-face ibis and the ancestral Mapuche culture at the University of La Frontera, Temuco. Fernanda is a Biotechnologist, and her studies compromise cell biology and biochemistry. She has a broad background in research because of her undergrad thesis performed during her senior years at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Furthermore, Fernanda worked as Research Assistant for almost four years in the laboratory of Dr Cecilia Riquelme at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Riquelme's group was interested in studying the mechanism of the activation of G-coupled protein receptors improving muscle differentiation in a well-characterized model in vitro muscle differentiation cell.

After finishing the project with Dr Riquelme, Fernanda was keen to pursue graduate studies. She started to feel more curious and fascinated about DNA molecular biology. Therefore, she joined IBS and started her combined M.S-Ph.D. studies at UNIST in March 2022.

Publications:

• María Paz Hernández-Cáceres, Lilian Toledo-Valenzuela, Francisco Díaz-Castro, Yenniffer Ávalos, Paulina Burgos, Carla Narro, Daniel Peña-Oyarzun, Jasson Espinoza-Caicedo, Flavia Cifuentes-Araneda, Fernanda Navarro-Aguad, Cecilia Riquelme, Rodrigo Troncoso, Alfredo Criollo, and Eugenia Morselli (2019). Palmitic Acid Reduces the Autophagic Flux and Insulin Sensitivity Through the Activation of the Free Fatty Acid Receptor 1 (FFAR1) in the Hypothalamic Neuronal Cell Line N43/5. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 10, 176. DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2019.00176. Link to paper

Ratih Khoirunnisa completed her bachelor’s degree at Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember in chemical engineering. She obtained her master‘s degree studying food science and technology, specifically in functional food, at Seoul National University of Science and Technology. During her master’s program, she mostly work on projects related to combining nano-particles and bio compounds to treat skin inflammatory diseases such as atopic dermatitis and bone inflammation, including osteoporosis on cell culture and animal experimentation. Moreover, she worked on a project for her thesis to study another potential treatment for Parkinson’s disease on cell culture and animal experimentation as well. She joined IBS on October 2022.

Publications:

• Khoirunnisa Ratih, Yu-Rim Lee, Kang-HyunChung, Da Hye Song, Kwon-Jai Lee Dong Hee Kim, Jeung HeeAn. 2023. L-Theanine alleviates MPTP-induced Parkinson's disease by targeting Wnt/β-catenin signaling mediated by the MAPK signaling pathway. Link to paper

• Kwon-jai lee., Khoirunnisa ratih., Gyeong-Ji Kim., Yu-Rim Lee., Jae-Soo Shin., Kang-Hyun Chung., Eun-Ju Choi., Eun-Kyung Kim., Jeung Hee An. 2021. Immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory efficacy of hederagenin-coated maghemite nanoparticles in an atopic dermatitis model. Link to paper

David is originally from Bangalore, India. He completed his graduation from Christ University in 2015, majoring in Biotechnology, Botany, and Chemistry. He also completed his post-graduation from Christ university in 2017, majoring in Analytical Chemistry. His next step was to gain experience in the domain of Pharmacovigilance at IQVIA and Clinical Data Management at Covance Clinical Development Services, collectively for about three years. After that, he carried out research in Korea, in a Biotech setting at Sungkyunkwan University, focused on developing quantitative DNA detection methods needed for the diagnosis of viral and bacterial pathogens.

Afroza is from Dhaka, Bangladesh. She completed her graduation in Genetic engineering and biotechnology from East West University in Dhaka. For her undergraduate project, she worked on "Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance Enterobacteriaceae in Slums in Dhaka city" in which she used PCR to find about the antibiotic resistance of different strains of Salmonella and Shigella.

Sandar graduated from University of Yangon with a Bachelor of Science in Zoology in 2019. She is originally from Myanmar and is now studying for her masters course in Biomedical Engineering at UNIST. Sandar joined IBS in September 2023.

Alila, originally from Kazakhstan, completed her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Industrial Design at UNIST. She joined IBS as an intern in spring 2023 and started her M.S. course in Biological Sciences at UNIST in September 2023.