About StraDiVarious

Adrian Goldman is a Professor in Structural Biology at the University of Helsinki. His research interests focus on understanding molecular interactions in and around the cell surface in both bacterial and eukaryotic systems. His group uses and has access to the latest techniques in structural molecular biology and interaction analysis on integral membrane proteins.

The Viikki campus at the University of Helsinki hosts state of the art facilities as part of Instruct Finland for all aspects of structural biology including protein production and interaction analysis, as well as a Talos Artica with a Falcon 4i fourth-generation detector.

Christos Pliotas obtained a BSc in Physics at the University of Athens and an MSc and PhDat the University of Aberdeen. He did his postdoc at the University of St Andrews with JamesH. Naismith FRS and was subsequently awarded a Royal Society ofEdinburgh Fellowship and became a principal investigator at the Biomedical Sciences Research Complex, University of St Andrews. Christos moved to the Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, at theUniversity of Leeds in October 2018, where he was an Assistant Professor in IntegrativeMembrane Biology, until May 2023. During his time in Leeds, he received a BBSRC NewInvestigator Award (2019) and the Sir Robin MacLellan Award for outstanding research funded by Tenovus (2022). As of June 2023 Christos and his lab have moved to the School ofBiological Sciences,Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, atThe University of Manchester, to take up his new post as a Reader in Structural Biological EPR Spectroscopy. As of January2024, Christos has been elected as a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Biology(FRSB) and is an affiliated member of the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology. In Manchester, Christos will launch and direct the newBioEmPiRe Centre of Excellence for Structural Biological EPRSpectroscopy in 2026.

For the Stradivarious project the Doctoral Researcher will be based at the University of Manchester, UK, and will be exploring the conformational flexibility and structural architecture of adhesins in host-ESKAPE interactions. ’ESKAPE’ pathogens top the World Health Organisation’s global bacterial pathogen priority list. The main objectives of the project will be to investigate adhesin biomechanics under infectious conditions and in pathogen-derived variants, using state-of-the-art structural biology approaches, such as EPR spectroscopy and CryoEM. The Doctoral Researcher will also benefit from 3-month secondmentsa) at the University of Frankfurt to identify adhesin variants and b)atGlaxoSmithKline (industrial) to study protein complexes, structural and oligomerization assembly.

Volkhard Kempf is Professor and head of the Institute of Medical Microbiology andInfection Control at the University Medicine, Goethe University, Frankfurt.His research interests are focussed on bacterial pathogenicity(with a special emphasis on bacterial adhesion and bacterially-triggered hypoxichost-cellreactions). His work led to the identification of BadA as a member of the trimeric autotransporter adhesins and the general role of HIF-1 in human infections.He has a confirmed track report on the molecular analysis of multidrug-resistant pathogens in clinical patient cohorts.

Prof. Kempf is the director of a large and fully certified infectious disease laboratory. All technologies (cultivation of pathogens, identification, mass spectrometry, antibiotic susceptibility testing, microscopy, electron microscopy, serology, molecular pathogen detection of bacteria and viruses, whole genome sequencing) is performed routinely.The diagnostic laboratory represents the German reference laboratory for Bartonella infections (appointed by the Robert Koch-Institute, Berlin). Prof. Kempf is member of the German Commission for Hospital Hygiene and Infection Prevention (appointed by theFederal Ministry of Health, Berlin)

Dirk Linke is a Professor in Molecular Microbiology at the University of Oslo. A biochemist by training, he brings expertise in protein expression & purification, molecular and cellular binding assays, and in the cultivation of non-standard microorganisms to the consortium. The Linke group studies the mechanisms of host specificity, and of bacterial adhesion to host cells and non-living surfaces. The group works comparatively, trying to learn from the similarities and differences between different bacterial species.

Dr. Ian Eastwood is the Chief Technology Officer at Eluceda, where he leads research work into rapid and sensitive detection of both microorganisms and chemical markers via electrochemical or optical sensing platforms. These are mostly deployed in anticounterfeiting and anti-smuggling applications.He has also developed a low-cost, lab-quality diagnostic systems aimed at the rapid identification pathogens.

Eluceda (www.Eluceda.com) is a UK-based detection technology and authentication company. The company specialises in combining forensic-based taggant technologies for brand protection with biological and chemical testing based on its patented E-Sens™platform, offering low cost, portable and rapid lab-level diagnostics at point of use. The company works with blue chip brand owners and governments.Its technologies serve diverse sectors—including value documents, pharmaceuticals, food & beverages and packaging industries.

Lígia Rodrigues is an Associate Professor inSynthetic Biology and Bio processes at the University ofMinho. Her research interests focus on designing, constructing and optimizing microorganisms and biological systems to produce high value bioproducts and advanced biosensors. Her group, so-called SynBiomics, integrates synthetic biology, metagenomics, bioprospecting, nanobiotechnology, cell biology and advanced bioprocess engineering to address pressing challenges across diverse industrial sectors such as health, food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and textiles.

Lotta Happonen is an Associate Professor in Experimental Infection Medicine at Lund University. Her research interests focus on understanding molecular interactions between host and pathogen with a specific focus on the innate immune system. Her research combines methods in proteomics and biochemistry with structural characterization of host-pathogen complexes, revealing mechanisms of host immune evasion.

Lund University is well equipped with core infrastructure for protein production, mass spectrometry-based proteomics, cryoEM, X-ray and neutron crystallography as well as DNA-sequencing and light-microscopy.

Nadia Izadi-Pruneye is the head of the Bacterial Transmembrane Systems Lab and deputy director of the Department of Structural Biology and Chemistry at Institut Pasteur (Paris,France). She is also DR1 Research Director at CNRS (equivalent to a full professor). A recognized expert in integrative structural biology, she leads research on bacterial membrane machineries. Her team combines NMR, cryoEM and advanced modelling to elucidate protein structures and interactions within these complex and dynamic systems.

Nathalie Sauvonnet is a research director at the Institut Pasteur, leading the Tissue Homeostasis group.Her group focuses on human intestinal homeostasis and how this barrier is regulated by extrinsic cues such as gut mechanical forces, microbiota and pathogens (bacteria, viruses or parasites). For that her group developed several intestinal barrier models combining human organoids with organ-on-chip technology.

The Institut Pasteur Paris is a world-wide recognized academic research organization specialised in infections, providing access for a large bacterial collection and hosting state of the art facilities.

Ingo Ebersberger is a professor for Applied Bioinformatics at the Goethe UniversityFrankfurt, and he is affiliated also with the Senckenberg Biodiversity and ClimateResearch Centre in Frankfurt (S-BIKF). He is a Molecular Biologist by training who moved into the field of Bioinformatics after completion of his PhD. His main interest is the change of genes and of their activities over evolutionary time scales, and how this relates to the phenotypic characteristics of individual species. The Ebersberger group develops models and algorithms for biosequence analysis and applies these tools in comparative genomics studies across large species collections. They characterize changes in a species’ gene setranging from gains and losses of gene clusters down to modifications on the sub-domain level of the encoded proteins, often in the context of organismic symbiosis. In bacteria, the group seeks to identify the molecular basis of pathogenesis and virulence.

Susanna Fagerholm is Professor of Cell-and Molecular Biology at University of Helsinki. She brings expertise in integrins in immunity, immune cell biology, mechanistic studies of immune responses and signaling. The Fagerholm group studies the role of leukocyte integrins in various immune reactions, particularly how cell surface receptors regulate immune cell signaling and function.