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Life Sciences Seminar Series

2024 Spring

The Making of MicroRNA

Narry Kim – Institute for Basic Science and Seoul National University, Korea
Transcription of the Genome: Molecular Mechanism and Cellular Regulation

Patrick Cramer – Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Germany
Ion Channels as an Inspiration for Synthetic Chemists

Dirk Trauner – University of Pennsylvania, USA
Probing the Dynamics and Interactions of Disordered Proteins with Single-molecule Spectroscopy: From Disordered Complexes to Phase Separation

Ben Schuler – University of Zurich (Switzerland)
That Magical Strand, RNA

Thomas R. Cech – University of Colorado at Boulder (USA)
Intercellular Transfer of Proteins and RNA

Randy W. Schekman – Berkeley University of California (USA)
Topological Perspectives on Networks

Kathryn Hess Bellwald – École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Mechanisms of Vertebrate DNA Replication and Repair

Johannes C. Walter – Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts (USA)
Deciphering Speciation Processes while Disentangling the Diversity, Endemism, and Geography of Southeast Asian Small Mammals

Jacob A. Esselstyn – Louisiana State University, USA
Biodiversity, Biomes, and Beliefs – the Impacts of Conservation and Global Change on BaAka Hunter-gatherers in the Central African Republic

Carolyn A. Jost Robinson – University of North Carolina Wilmington, USA
Genomic Evolution and Adaptation in Africa

Sarah A. Tishkoff – University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (USA)
On the Machines that Make and Repair our Chromosomes

Dana Branzei – Georg-August University Göttingen, Germany IFOM - THE FIRC INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR ONCOLOGY , Italy

2023 Autumn

Structural Biochemistry and Mechanisms

Ashwin Chari – Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences
De Novo Generation of Cell Polarity and the Generation of Stem Cell Niches

Liam Dolan – Austrian Academy of Sciences
On the Machines that Make and Repair our Chromosomes

Dana Branzei – Georg-August University Göttingen, Germany IFOM - THE FIRC INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR ONCOLOGY , Italy
New Frontiers in PKA Signaling

Susan S. Taylor – University of California, San Diego, USA
Of Mice And Men: Fundamental Insights Resulting From Long-Term Field Studies With Rodents Destroying Crops Or Carrying Infections

Herwig Leirs – University of Antwerp, Beilgium
Harnessing Nanoscale Communication for Next-Generation Anticancer Therapy

Tanmoy Saha – Harvard Medical School and Brigham Women's Hospital
Biology of Bedtime: Understanding the Basis of Sleep

Amita Sehgal – Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
Noninvasive Deep Brain Stimulation via Temporally Interfering Electric Fields

Nir Grossman – Imperial College London, UK Dementia Research Institute (DRI), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Molecular Genetics of the Immune and Nervous Systems-Antibody Diversity and Memory Engrams

Susumu Tonegawa – MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Department of Biology

2023 Spring

How Coordination Between Transcription and RNA Processing Tunes Gene Expression

Karla Neugebauer – The Yale Center for RNA Science and Medicine
Architecture and Mechanistic Interplay of Promoters and Enhancers in Controlling Gene Expression

John T. Lis – Cornell University, USA
Regulation of Mammalian Transcription: Insights from Cryo-EM

Carrie Bernecky – Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
Structural Insights Into G Protein Coupled Receptor Activation

Brian. K. Kobilka – Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
Genome Stability in Reproduction and Aging: New Insights Form C. Elegans

Björn Schumacher – EcoHealth Alliance, USA
Neglected Diseases in a Global World and the Unexpected Impact of Going Local

Anne Laudisoit – EcoHealth Alliance, USA
The Making of MicroRNA

Narry Kim – Institute for Basic Science and Seoul National University, Korea
Rewiring DNA Repair for Genome Stability or Genome Haploidization

Joao Matos – University of Vienna
Engineering Complex Agronomic Traits in Crops

Dirk Inzé – VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent University, Belgium
Dissecting the Interplay Between Genetic Lesions and the Tumor Microenvironment in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Dimitar Efremov – International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Trieste, Italy
The Non-gradual Nature of Explosive Diversification in African Cichlid Fishes

Walter Salzburger – University of Basel

2022 Autumn

The Developmental Basis of Biological Diversity - Cancelled!

Ricardo Mallarino – Princeton University, USA
Systems Analyses of Anti-Tumor T Cell Responses

Roger Geiger – Istituto di Ricerca in Biomedicina
Hormonal Regulation of Plant Adaptive Responses to Environmental Signals

Eva Benkova – ISTA, Austria
Supramolecular Latch: a New Chemical Tool for Chemistry, Biology and Materials Science

Kimoon Kim – Pohang University of Science and Technology, South Korea
Current and Future Treatment of Alzheimer Disease

Bengt Winblad – Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Exploring the Underground of the RBP World: Riboregulation

Matthias Henze – European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany
Role of the Antigen Receptor in Normal and Malignant B Cell Development

Klaus Rajewsky – Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin, Berlin
Computational Modeling Reveals Central Parameters for Brassinosteroid-regulated Cellular Processes Linked to Elongation Growth in the Arabidopsis Root

Klaus Harter – University of Tübingen, Germany
Molecular Mechanisms of RNA Dependent DNA Damage Response

Monika Gullerova – University of Oxford

2022 Spring

Understanding the multiple functions of human telomeres

Jayakrishnan Nandakumar – University of Michigan
Personalizing the treatment of Parkinson’s disease using a multi-sensor integrated midbrain organoid-on-a-chip platform

Peter Ertl – TU Wienn, Austria
From Hedgehog Signalling to Myogenesis

Philip William Ingham – University of Exeter
The Internet of Animals

Martin Wikelski – Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior / University of Konstanz
Analysis of Inter-individual Variation in Population-scale scRNA-seq Studies

Peter Kharchenko – Harvard, USA
Genomic Evolution and Adaptation in Africa

Sarah Tishkoff – University of Pennsylvania, Departments of Genetics and Biology, David and Lyn Silfen University Professor
Tetrahelical Nucleic Acids: 3D Structure and Dynamics in Relation to Function and Disease

Janez Plavec – National Institute of Chemistry / University of Ljubljana
Reconstituting Cytoskeleton - One Molecule at a Time

Zdeněk Lánský – Institute of Biotechnology, Czech Academy of Sciences, BIOCEV
New Dimensions in Drug Development by Targeting Motor Enzymes

Eotvos Lorand University, Dept of Biochemistry – Eotvos Lorand University
The Art of Building Small

Ben Feringa – University of Groningen, Germany
The lesson has been cancelled

Monika Gullerova – University of Oxford
A New Era for the Elucidation of Protein Complexes in Physiology and Disease by Experimental Methods in Structural Biology

Savvas Savvides – VIB Ghent, Belgium

2021 Autumn

Wnt/Frizzled Planar Cell Polarity Signaling in Development and Disease

Marek Mlodzik – Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
High Molecular-Weight Complexes in The Regulation of Gene Expression: A View by Integrative Structural Biology

Teresa Carlomagno – Leibniz University Hannover, Germany
A Fly Model for Epithelial Tumors: Problems at Both Ends!

Ulrich Theopold – Stockholm University, Sweden
Base-Modified Nucleic Acids for Applications in Diagnostics or Chemical Biology

Michal Hocek – Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry ASCR, v.v.i.; Dept. of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
PARP Inhibition - from Idea to Registration, a Personal Perspective

Zdeněk Hostomský – Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Deciphering Functional Mechanisms of Enzymes and Molecular Chaperones by Integrated NMR Spectroscopy

Paul Schanda – Insitute of Science and Technology, Austria
Battle Against Viruses: Towards New Approaches for the Prevention and Therapy of Viral Infections

Daniel Růžek – Biology Centre CAS Institute of Parasitology, Czech Republic
Mechanisms of Longevity, from Naked Mole Rats to Bowhead Whales

Vera Gorbunova – University of Rochester, USA
Rise of the Micromachines: Biology on the Small Scale

Andrew deMello – ETH Zürich, Switzerland

2021 Spring

From Single Molecules to Live Cells: Imaging Nucleic Acid-Protein Interactions

David Rueda – Imperial College London, UK
Protein Hydration and Dynamics Seen by Fluorescence: Studies on Haloalkane-Dehalogenases

Martin Hof – J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry, Prague, Czech Republic
Sweet Taste of Heavy Water

Pavel Jungwirth – Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS, Czech Republic
Molecular Principles of Epigenetic Reprogramming in Vivo

Petra Hájková – Imperial College London, UK
Cytotoxic T Cells in Immunity and Self-Tolerance

Ondřej Štěpánek – Institute of Molecular Genetics CAS, Czech Republic
How to Build a Clathrin-Coated Vesicle: Switches, Timers & Scaffolding

Zuzana Kadlecová – Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, UK
Small RNAs in the Mammalian Germline: a Lesson from Hamsters

Petr Svoboda – Institute of Molecular Genetics CAS, Czech Republic
Fifty Shades of Green Alias where Do the Predators Keep the Plants Flourish?

Kateřina Sam – University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Czech Republic

2020 Spring

Dicer-Dependent tRNA-Derived Small RNAs Promote Intronic Gene Silencing

Monika Gullerova – University of Oxford, UK
From Base Pairs to Bedside: Antisense Therapeutics for Targeted Modulation of Splicing or NMD

Adrian Krainer – Watson School of Biological Sciences, USA

2019 Autumn

Unlocking Secrets Keapt for Some Time

Yimon Aye – École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, France
Integrative Studies of Immune Recognition Complexes

Nikolaos Sgourakis – University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
Would Gregor Mendel be Alarmed that Designer Babies Walk Among Us?

Gerald P. Schatten – McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, USA
Antisense-mediated Chromatin Regulation

Caroline Dean – The John Innes Centre, UK
RNA-mediated Genome Instability

Andrés Aguilera – University of Sevilla, Spain
Conserving Genomic Diversity in a Changing World

Michael Bruford – Cardiff University, United Kingdom
Dynamic Recoding of the Transcriptome:How RNA Modifications Control Hypertension

Michael Jantsch – Medical University of Vienna, Austria
Genomes within Genomes: the History of Wolbachia Bacterial Symbiosis with Nematodes

Mark Blaxter – University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Why are There so Many Species in Tropical Rainforests?

Vojtěch Novotný – University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Challenges of Selective Targeting of Protein Kinases in Cellular Environments

Stefan Knapp – University of Oxford, UK
Centrosomes and Cell Fate in the Developing Mouse

Hisham Bazzi – University of Cologne, Germany

2019 Spring

Wnt Signaling and the Generation of New Cells in the Liver

Roel Nusse – Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford, USA
Progress Toward the Discovery of New Antibiotics with Efficacy Against Multi-drug Resistant Bacterial Pathogens

Andrew G. Myers – Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
The Rise and Promise of Artificial Molecular Machines Based on the Mechanical Bond

Sir Fraser Stoddart – Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA
The Awesome Power of Fluorine NMR

Angela Gronenborn – University of Pittsburgh, USA
From Genomics To Therapeutics: Uncovering And Manipulating The Genetic Circuitry of Human Disease

Manolis Kellis – Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, USA
Czech Centre for Phenogenomics - the gate to comprehensive description of gene functions

Radislav Sedláček – Institute of Molecular Genetics of the ASCR, v. v. i., Czech Republic
Thinking Outside the Box: Could Spiders Provide a New Generation of Eco-friendly Insecticides?

Glenn King – University of Queensland, Australia
Decoding Transcriptional Regulation in Drosophila

Alexander Stark – Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Austria
The Making of N-glycoproteins: the Evolution of a Prokaryotic Post-translational Modification into a Complex Eukaryotic Pathway

Markus Aebi – Institute of Microbiology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Nagoya Protocol: Linking Life Science and the Global Politics of Nature Conservation

Eliška Rolfová – Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic
CRISPR-Cas9: a Bacterial Immune System Repurposed as a Transformative Genome Engineering Technology

Emmanuelle Charpentier – Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany
Well-being Is a Skill: Perspectives From Affective and Contemplative Neuroscience

Richard J. Davidson – Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA
The Regulation of Lymphocyte Development and Activation by the ZFP36 RNA Binding Proteins

Martin Turner – Babraham Institute, United Kingdom
Dissecting the Role of Vesicular Trafficking in Differential Cell Elongation in Arabidopsis

Rishi Bhalerao – Umea Plant Science Centre, Sweden

2018 Autumn

About Chomsky, Patterns, Genomic Immunity and Cancer Patients

George Calin – University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA
Radial Plant Growth - Cellular Coordination in Two Dimensions

Thomas Greb – Department of Developmental Physiology, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Post-Structural Biology: Ambiguity in Proteins and Drugs

Robert Konrat – Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Austria
The Imitation Game: The Evolution of Mimicry in Plants and Animals

Tom Sherratt – Department of Biology, University of Carleton, Canada
Atomistic Simulation of Biomolecular Function: Ribosomal Translation, Ligand Binding Heterogeneity, and a Dynasome Perspective

Helmut Grubmüller – Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany
Trying to make sense in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD)

Oliver Mühlemann – Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Switzerland
Mechanism of Homology-directed Chromosome Damage Repair in Eukaryotes

Patrick Sung – Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, USA
Epigenetic Regulation in Development, Aging, and Disease States

Rudolf Jaenisch – Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, MIT, Cambridge, USA
Genes and the Mechanics of Cell Shape

Eric F. Wieschaus – Howard Hughes Medical Institute / Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, USA
Charting the Genomic Landscapes of Speciation – a Tale of Ugly Statistics and Pretty Butterflies

Konrad Lohse – Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Edinburgh University
The Endless Search – at 4ºC – for Novel RNA Processing Factors in Mammalian Cells

Javier Martinez – Max F. Perutz Laboratories, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

2018 Spring

Artificial Genetics and Evolution in the New Millenium

Steven Benner – Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Alachua, USA
The Logic of Gene Regulation

Mark Ptashne – Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Center, New York, USA
The Cell Biology of the Genome

Tom Misteli – National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, USA

0 Autumn

Gaining Insight Into Pre-mRNA Splicing By The Spliceosome

Reinhard Lührmann – Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Germany

Biosupramolecular Chemistry: Towards Anion and Carbohydrate Receptors with Biomedical Applications Anthony Davis - University of Bristol, UK
Design and Evolution of Efficient Artificial Aldolases Donald Hilvert - ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Microfluidics for Ultra-High-Throughput Biology: Droplets & Photons Andrew deMello - ETH Zurich, Switzerland
MicroRNA Targeting for the Treatment of Epilepsy: the Journey to Preclinical Development Cristina Rechke - University of Cambridge, UK
Molecular Mechanisms of Replication Fork Protection Vincenzo Costanzo - IFOM - Fondazione Istituto FIRC di Oncologia Molecolare, Milan, Italy
NMR as a Discovery Tool in Cell Biology Phil Selenko - Leibniz Institute of Molecular Pharmacology, Berlin, Germany
Novel Mechanisms of Cancer – Stroma Crosstalk and Implications for Therapy Erik Sahai - Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
The Causes and Consequences of Human Obesity, Lessons from Genetics Stephen O´Rahilly - University of Cambridge, UK

2017 Autumn

Alien and Invasive Species: Enrichment or Threat? Wolfgang Nentwig - University of Bern, Switzerland
Diplonemids - New Kids on the Oceanic Block Julius Lukeš - University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic
Forty Years of Pre-mRNA Splicing: Spliceosome Function in the Age of Cryo-EM Structures Magda Konarska - Center for New Technologies, Warsaw University, Poland
High-Resolution Structure Deterimination of Dynamic Macromolecular Holger Stark - Max Planck Institute for Biophysical chemistry, Munich, Germany
How the Assembly of Protein-RNA Complexes Guides Their Regulatory Functions Jernej Ule - The Francis Crick Institute and UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
NMR Studies of Large-Scale Protein Conformational Dynamics: From Fundamental Biophysics to Functional Biology Martin Blackledge - Institut de Biologie Structurale, CNRS, Grenoble, France
Signal Transduction Pathways Controlling B and T Cell Development, Survival and Function Victor Tybulewicz - Francis Crick Institute, London, UK

2017 Spring

Between Genotype and Phenotype: Signalling and Physical Morphogenesis at the Cellular-to-Supracellular Level Jeremy Green - King's College, London, UK
Design and Function of Molecular Machines Thomas Marlovits - IMBA, Austrian Academy of Sciences and University of Vienna, Austria
DNA Bases beyond Watson and Crick Thomas Carell - Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Germany
Genomics of Adaptations and Speciation in the Repeated Adaptive Radiations of Cichlid Fishes Axel Mayer - University of Gent, The Netherlands
Small RNA Pathways in Animal Genome Defense Julius Brennecke - IMBA, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria
The Arabidopsis Embryo as a Model for Understanding the Genetic Basis for Multicellular Development Dolf Weijers - Wageningen University, The Netherlands
Translational Medicine: from Bifurcations to Epilepsy Surgery Viktor Jirsa - Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, Aix-Marseille Université, France

2016 Autumn

Biogenesis and Turnover of Small RNAs in Health and Disease Javier Caceres - MRC Human Genetics Unit Edinburgh, UK
Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa - Outbreak Response & Operational Research Stephan Günther - University of Hamburg, Germany
Enzyme Discovery, Engineering, and Application in Biocatalysis Uwe T. Bornscheuer - University of Greiswald, Germany
Imaging the Immune Response in Injury and Infection Paul Kubes - University of Calgary, Canada
Integrating Macroscopic and Mesoscopic Human Brain Imaging: From Basic fMRI Research at Ultra-High Magnetic Fields to Therapeutic Real-Time Applications Rainer Goebel - Mastricht University, The Netherlands
NcRNA-Directed Epigenetic Gene Regulation Marc Bühler - Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Schwitzerland
Regulation of Gene Expression by MiRNAs and RNA-Binding Proteins Mihaela Zavolan - Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland
Towards Sarcomeric Z-disk Structure: by Lego Building Blocks Kristina Djinovic Carugo - Max F. Perutz Laboratories GmbH, Austria
You Snooze, You Lose: Sexual Selection and the Evolution of Sleep Bart Kempenaers - Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany

2015 Autumn

A Chemical compass: How migratory birds may navigate Peter Hore - Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, UK
Cell cycle regulation by systems-level feedback controls Béla Novák - Department of Biochemistry of Oxford, UK
Connecting the dots: linking receptor kinase activation to downstream immune outputs Cyril Zipfel - The Sainsbury Laboratory, UK
Epigenetic, Splicing and Translation regulation by RRM containing proteins Frédéric Allain - ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Errors of DNA replication: their repair and consequences of their non-repair Josef Jiricny - Institute of Molecular Cancer Research, University of Zurich, Switzerland
From the origin of life to the ribosome dynamics Jiří Šponer - IBP AS CR & CEITEC MU, Brno, Czech Republic
Lost in translations? The value of animal models in psychiatric research Carsten T. Wotjak - Dept. Stress Neurolobiology & Neurogenetics, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Germany
Mapping epileptic networks in focal epilepsies: what can EEG and fMRI see beyond spikes Serge Vulliemoz - Functional Brain Mapping Laboratory, Neurology Department, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Molecular interrogation of an endocannabinoid code that modulates neuronal development Tibor Harkany - Center for Brain Research, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
Structural investigation on the ABC transporter ArtMP, channelrhodopsin and alpha B crystallin Hartmut Oschkinat - Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology, Berlin

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