Elisa previously worked in the events and insurance industry. She is very excited to dive into the new, highly interesting work environment and to work with a young, motivated and international team in the modern Center for Soft Nanoscience.
Björn's scientific career began in 2001 at the Max Planck Institute in Dortmund, where he first learned and applied biophysical methods in his diploma thesis and then combined them with X-ray crystallography in his doctoral thesis. His growing interest in structural biology led him to six institutes in Germany, England and the USA before he joined Prof. Dr. Stefan Raunser's group back at the Max Planck Institute in Dortmund in 2013. There Björn learned the technique of electron microscopy. With his acquired practical experience in cryo-EM, crystallographic and biophysical techniques, he has solved several novel structures. His great passion includes understanding the function and architecture of large hetero-oligomeric protein complexes.
Karthik Subramaniam obtained both his bachelor's and master's degree from the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (Deemed to be University) in India. During his master’s thesis, Karthik worked in the group of Dr.S.Venkatesh to study about the Gene-Amyloid relationships in Huntington’s Disease (a Neurodegenerative Disease) using Yeast as a Model Organism. Karthik’s work here will focus on the structural analysis of the latrotoxins, neurotoxins produced by the black widow spider.
Maximilian studied biochemistry at the Ruhr University Bochum. He carried out his Bachelor's thesis at the Center for Solvation Science (ZEMOS) in the group of Prof. Martina Havenith-Newen. In doing so, he dealt with the fundamental solvation dynamics within model membranes, similar to those of biological cells. For his Master thesis, Maximilian joined the labs of Prof. Thomas Günther-Pomorski and Prof. Ralf Erdmann on the lipid flippase activity of peroxisomal membrane proteins.
Athina obtained both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of Crete in Greece. She is a biochemist with a background in metabolomics analysis. During her Master's thesis, Athina worked part-time in Prof. Hartmut Michel's group at the MPI in Frankfurt am Main. In Frankfurt, her interest in structural biology grew, which led her to join our team as a PhD student. Athina's work will focus on the structural analysis of the p97 complex and its associated cofactors, which she is carrying out as part of the Collaborative Research Centre 1430 based at the University of Duisburg Essen.
At Colorado State University in the United States, Cole earned his bachelor's degree in zoology. During his studies, he discovered his enthusiasm for biochemistry. So, Cole began his master's studies at the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, with a focus on molecular medicine. Cole completed his master's thesis in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Gatsogiannis, investigating the structure of the yeast protein complex Dam1 and its associated proteins Bim1 and Bik1, which are crucial for the process of mitosis. Currently, Cole is continuing the work begun during his Master's thesis as a doctoral student with Prof. Dr. Gatsogiannis. The project is part of the Collaborative Research Centre 1430 at the University of Duisburg-Essen and focuses on continuing his work on the Dam1 complex and its associated proteins Bim1 and Bik1 to better understand their functions and interaction mechanisms.
Alexander studied biochemistry at the Ruhr University Bochum. He obtained both his master’s degree and PhD in the group of Prof. Ralf Erdmann where he studied peroxisomal biogenesis. In 2013 he joined the group of Prof. Werner Kühlbrandt at the MPI of Biophysics in Frankfurt (Main). There he learned the technique of electron microscopy and cryo-EM. He analysed peroxisomal proteins and pore-forming toxins. He joined the group of Dr. Vicki Gold at the University of Exeter (UK) in 2018 to study type IV pili using cryo-EM. Since 2022 he is the facility manager for the cryo-EM infrastructure und application specialist for cryo-EM at the Center for Soft Nanoscience. Together with Anja Blanque he ensures the optimal condition of the equipment and provides training and support for users of the facility.
Dr. rer. nat Anja Blanque, Application SpecialistCryo-EM SoN
Since graduating as a BTA in 1994, Anja has worked in various institutes at the University of Osnabrück and the University Hospital Münster, most recently with Prof. Schillers and Prof. Linke. During this time, she used her experience in biochemistry as well as light-, confocal- and atomic force microscopy to support cancer- and muscle research. Anja also gained a diploma in biology at the University of Osnabrück and completed her doctorate in 2015 in the group of Prof. Missler at the Institute for Anatomy and Molecular Neurobiology in Münster, implementing conventional and spectroscopic EM-methods. As facility staff she uses her knowledge of conventional EM and modern cryo-techniques to ensure the smooth running of our cryo-EM facility and train new users together with the facility manager.
Simone successfully completed her training as a chemical laboratory technician at a large biotechnology company in 2018. She gained her first professional experience as a Research Development Technician in in-vitro test development for infectious serology. Looking for a new challenge and further development, she landed with us and supports our team as a technical, very motivated employee. In addition to her work in the lab, she is doing a distance learning course in molecular biology.
George Broutzakis (M.Sc), Guest Doctoral student
Center for Soft Nanoscience (SoN)
Busso-Peus-Str. 10, D-48149 Münster
Office: 110.018.2
Phone: +49 251 83 34425
E-mail address: broutzakis@uni-muenster.de
George received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Athens, with an emphasis on Molecular Biology and Genetics. During his undergraduate thesis, George developed a novel system to identify small cyclic peptides that can salvage misfolded membrane proteins in the lab of Dr. G. Skretas at the National Hellenic Research Foundation. He is currently pursuing a PhD degree in the laboratory of Prof. G. Diallinas in the University of Athens, where he studies membrane protein trafficking and structure-function relationships. To aid in this, he is currently visiting Prof. Gatsogiannis’s lab to learn Cryo-Electronic Microscopy and apply it to one of the best-studied eukaryotic transporters, UapA.
Eda received her bachelor’s degree in molecular biology and genetics from the University of Istanbul. For her master’s thesis, she worked in the Computational Structural Biology group at the Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (IBG). Her master's research allowed her to rethink cell biology from a three-dimensional perspective, and she became particularly interested in CryoEM. She currently visiting Prof. Gatsogiannis’s lab as a pre-doctoral intern. She will work on establishing a CryoET image processing workflow during her internship.
Ermis completed his bachelor's degree in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Crete. During his bachelor's thesis, he studied the biopolymer PHB. Currently, Ermis is studying in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. G. Tsiotis at the University of Crete. He is trying to characterize the structure and composition of PHB granules in Pseudomonas sp. phDV1. To achieve this goal, Ermis joined us as an Erasmus student to learn and apply the method of cryo-electron microscopy.
Alumni
Dr. Minghao Chen, (PhD), University of California, Berkeley, Hurley lab
Pascal Lill (PhD), Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology Dortmund, 2016 - 2021, current address: Postdoc, Wyss Institute for Biological Inspired Engineering, Harvard Medical School, Boston
Bastian Möllers (M.Sc in Medical Biology), University of Duisburg-Essen, 2021, current address: PHD Student, University of Duisburg-Essen
Michelle Koci (M.Sc. in Biochemistry), Ruhr-University Bochum, 2020, current address: PHD Student, University of Duisburg-Essen
Lena Engelhard (M.Sc. in Biochemistry), Ruhr-University Bochum, 2020, current address: PHD Student, TU Dortmund
Dimitrios Vismpas (M.Sc. in Proteinbiotechnology), University Crete, 2020, current address: PHD Student, Utrecht University
Prof. Takashi Matsui, Gastwissenschaftler, Tohoku University Japan, 2019
Lydia Borgelt (M.Sc. in Chemische Biologie, Technische University Dortmund, 2018, current address: PHD Student, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Dortmund
Jonas Miehling, Praktikant, 2018, current address: PHD Student, MRC-LMB
Lydia Borgelt (M.Sc. in Chemical Biology), TU Dortmund, 2018, current address: PHD Student, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Dortmund
Justina Stark (M.Sc. in Chemical Biology), TU Dortmund, 2018, current address: PHD Student, Max Planck Institute Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden
