Members elected in 2020 were introduced to their colleagues in the Academy and sign the “Registry of Membership.”NAS membership is a widely accepted mark of excellence in science and is considered one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive. Members are elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
Great for the CBG, great for Dresden Science, the lab is happy and proud!
After finishing his Masters here at the TU Dresden, Adam moved to Barcelona and did his PhD work in the lab of Ben Lehner at the CRG. We were very happy when he joined us in March 2017 and started working on condensates and how they can buffer noise in cells, great work in collaboration with Christoph Zechner from the CBG/CSBD! In general he is interested in understanding how condensates can regulate gene expression and he will now use as well C. elegans genetics to tackle that question in his own lab.
very sharp indeed!
We were very happy to organize him a good bye dinner after Corona restrictions were just mitigated
This summer, the Hyman lab expands their team with new students on the bachelors, masters, and PhD levels.
Athina Karasavvidi comes from Greece. She is an undergraduate student at the Department of Materials Science & Technology, University of Crete, Greece. Athina is currently working on her bachelor thesis as an Erasmus student in the Hyman Lab, investigating the effect of mutations on TDP-43 protein assembly and aggregation.
Arsenii Hordeichyk comes from Ukraine. He earned a Bachelors degreee in molecular biology from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. He is currently pursuing a Masters degree at the Max Planck School “Matter to Life” (Molecular systems chemistry and engineering at Heidelberg University). In the Hyman lab, Arsenii studies how crowded environments affect enzymatic reactions and metabolic regulation, with a glycolysis as the research focus.
Akshaye Pal comes from the United States. He received his Bachelors degree in Biology from Santa Clara University and worked as a research technician in the Voorhees lab at CalTech, US. He is pursuing his PhD in the Hyman and Zechner Labs, and plans to use stochastic models to determine how condensates affect noisy gene expression in cells.
The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina elected Tony as a new member. The Leopoldina, founded in 1652, is one of the world’s oldest Science academy and fosters national and international science and advises politics and society in science related questions.
Shova was a joint postdoc with Simon Alberti (former MPI-CBG group leader, now TU-Dresden professor) working on RNA and its implications on phase separation of prion like proteins. In her landmark Science paper Shova showed that RNA is critically important for solubility of prion like proteins in the nucleus. Lowering of nuclear RNA levels led to cytotoxic protein aggregates. In addition to this work Shova contributed to a series of other papers from the Hyman and Alberti lab.
In her own lab, Shova will now work on the question how specific and non-specific interactions of RNA drive the phase separation of RNA binding proteins into condensates. She uses mammalian cell culture and in vitro reconstituted systems to work on these specific aims:
What are the roles of non-coding RNA in nuclear stress granule formation?
What are the factors controlling cellular RNA metabolism and how do they affect condensate formation?
What is the effect of RNA modifications on condensate formation?
Good luck to you Shova, and hope to hear a lot from your work in the coming years!
The Hyman lab recently recruited two new postdocs, Anupa and Jik.
Anupa Majumdar started as a postdoc in the Hyman Lab in February 2021. She completed her PhD at Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, India, followed by a three-year postdoctoral stint at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER Mohali), India. She is interested in studying the molecular grammar driving the phase-separation of coiled-coil proteins.
Jik Nijssen started in February 2021 as a postdoc in the Hyman lab, after finishing his PhD at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. He will study phase separation in the context of neuronal functioning, growth and degeneration using human stem cell-derived motorneurons.
Congratulations to Ceciel and all the best for your future!
Congratulations to Ceciel for her very successful PhD defense @tudresden_de during COVID times! Ceciel is a joined student of our and Simon Alberti's lab @BIOTEC_TUD working on the Ded1 helicase. All the best for your future Ceciel, and great hat 😉@mpicbg@imprs_mpicbgpic.twitter.com/GZpZCeMLXG
The organizers of Cell Bio Virtual 2020, an online ASCB – EMBO meeting, invited Tony to give the Keith Porter Lecture. Keith Porter pioneered electron microscopy and employed it in the study of cellular organization.
After an introduction from Professor Timothy Mitchison, Tony walked the audience through his scientific journey leading him to Dresden. There, his lab has been engaged in interdisciplinary Biophysical research since 2009 leading to discoveries in the field of phase separation. Throughout the lecture, the importance of taking the time to investigate observations off the beaten path and regularly engaging in scientific discussions was highlighted.
Analogies were used to explain the basic concepts and observations in the field, from the example of a vinaigrette to illustrate liquid-liquid demixing to the dynamic assembly of communities and societies. A summary of the grand challenges facing the emerging field of condensate biology was laid out. These challenges require the input of Biophysicists, polymer physicists, and molecular & structural biologists.
Amayra Hernández-Vega concluded a 6-year service in the Hyman Lab this November as a postdoc, with an impressive track record of publications and scientific outreach.
2017
05 Sep
Local Nucleation of Microtubule Bundles through Tubulin Concentration into a Condensed Tau Phase
Hernández-Vega A, Braun M, Scharrel L, Jahnel M, Wegmann S, Hyman BT, Alberti S, Diez S, Hyman AA.
Watching the livestream from the @Hymanlab...benches: Sina and Joy giving their talk at the #EESPhaseSeparation meeting in Heidelberg!
@EMBOevents
@MrityunjoyK
