Members' Directory

Biography: 1994-1998 : PhD Thesis at the Grenoble University in the Laboratory of Structural Electron Microscopy - Director : Dr R. H. Wade - Study of Microtubule/Kinesins Complexes
1998-2001 : Post-Doc at EMBL in the Group of Drs A. Hyman and E. Karsenti - Study of Microtubule Dynamics and Structure -

Biography: From 1.Sept.2009 Assistant Professor at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, India.
Apr 2005-Jun 2009 BioMS Postdoctoral research fellow on modeling and experimental validation of reaction diffusion gradients in spindle assembly. Karsenti Lab, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany.
Oct 2003-Mar 2005 Postdoctoral research on agent based tumour modelling and 3D cell-culture, Complex Biosystems Modelling Laboratory (CBML), Harvard-MIT HST, Boston, MA, USA.

May 2000-Jul2003 PhD in Biology (Magna cum Laude) “Modeling Nuclear Body Dynamics in Living Cells by 4-D Microscopy, Image Analysis and Simulation” supervisor Prof. Roland Eils and Prof. Harald Herrmann, DKFZ Heidelberg, Germany. http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/archiv/3734.

Jun 1996-Apr 1998. MSc Zoology (Molecular Biology) 2 yrs. 1st Class; Zoology Dept., Pune Univ., India,
Jun 1993-Apr 1996
BSc Botany 3 yrs 1st Class with Distinction (73.67%), Fergusson College, Pune
1995 Small German diploma (KDS), Max Müller Bhavan, Pune, Goethe Institut & LM Universität, Munich.
1993 Higher Secondary Certificate* 1993 1st Class (77.17%), St. Vincent's High School, Pune
1991 Secondary School Certificate* 1991 Ist Division (82%), St. Vincent's High School, Pune

Biography: Scientific career history
1986 B.Sc. (Hons.), Biochemistry, University of Bristol, England.
1990 Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry, University of Dundee, Scotland.
1991-94 Wellcome Trust Research Fellow, Cell Biology Programme, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany. Member of Dr Eric Karsenti?s group working on control of the cell division cycle in Xenopus.
1994-98 Zeneca Senior Research Fellow and Honorary Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, England.
1998-19 Senior Lecturer and Senior Cancer Research UK Fellow, Biomedical Research Centre, University of Dundee, Scotland.
2003-2005 Reader, University of Dundee
2005-present Professor of Cancer Cell Biology, University of Dundee.

Research Interests
(1) Roles of Ran GTPase in mitosis and nuclear envelope assembly,
(2) checkpoint control of mitosis,
(3) regulation of caspases during apoptosis.
Using cultured cells as well as cell-free systems made from Xenopus eggs and human cells.


Personal details
Married to Gayl Wall (Becker group, 1991-1994). We have two daughters, Sylvie Helen (1995) and Mia Louise (2001). We live in Fife, on the Firth of Tay, near to Dundee.

Biography: 1987-1994: Lecturer, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Biocenter, University of Wuerzburg
1994-1998: Lecturer, Department of Electronmicroscopy
1998-present: Senior Lecturer, Department of Electronmicroscopy and Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Biocenter, University Wuerzburg
1990: Promotion to Privatdozentin: Venia legendi in Cell Biology
1998: Extraordinary Professor, University Wuerzburg

Biography: Oct 1997-present: Principal Investigator at the Institut Jacques Monod in Paris. The research theme of the group is the evolution of robust processes in nematode development, and the study of natural populations of C. elegans.

July 1994-Sep 1997: Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Paul Sternberg at the California Institute of Technology. Comparative studies of nematode development in different species have been undertaken in an evolutionary perspective.

Oct 1993-June 1994: Visiting Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Stanislas Leibler in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. The collaborative research with M. Dogterom concerned the spatial regulation of microtubule dynamics in mitosis.

Oct 1991-Oct 1993: Research Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Bernard Maro in the Jacques Monod Institute in Paris. The research was centered on the reconstitution of centrosome formation in Xenopus egg extracts, and the role of ?-tubulin in this process.

Oct 1990: Position as a Research Fellow in the French C.N.R.S.; CR1 level since Oct 1994; DR2 level since Oct 1999.

1987-1991 Diploma and PH. D. Thesis The research work was carried out in the laboratory of Dr. Eric Karsenti in the Cell Biology Program at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany. It concerned the reconstitution of oscillations of cdc2 kinase activity in Xenopus egg extracts, and the study of their temporal control.

1985-89 : Student at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris and at the Magistère of Biology-Biochemistry at the University of Paris 6.

Biography: Ph.D. 1987 University of Saarland
Post-Doc 1987-1990 IMP Vienna, Austria
Post-Doc
1991-1993 at EMBL, Heidelberg, Differentiation Programme (G.Draetta group)
1993-1995 at EMBL, Heidelberg, Cell Biology Programme (Karsenti group)
from 1995 group leader at the German Cancer Reserach Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg

Biography: Ph.D. in neuroendocrinology in ?75. Collaborating with M. De Brabander (discoverer of nocodazole) sparkled my interest in MTs. At the Janssen Foundation, I have participate,d using nocodazole and taxol, investigating the assembly of the microtubule system. I also developed and promoted the colloidal gold immunostaining method. With G. Langanger, localization of myosin in stress fibers in a sarcomere-like organization. As a first step towards a reinsertion in academia, I have joined the EMBL as staff scientist (cell biology). Following Kai? recommendation, a collaboration with the groups of E. Stelzer and E. Karsenti has provided me with a unique chance to use the first high quality confocal microscopes. This work (with A. Merdes), has elucidated the cellular mechanism underlying the initial contact between a kinetochore and polar microtubules. In collaboration with Thomas Kreis, I became interested in CLIP-170, having shown its transient association with kinetochores (thesis of D. Dujardin in Paris). 1991: professorship in Paris and group leader at the Institut Jacques Monod. With 3 thesis students, we have recently contributed to a better understanding of the involvment of CLIP-170 in the dynein/dynactin pathway via its interaction with LIS1. The support of Daniel Louvard, (Curie Institute), has enabled me to develop a novel rapid 4D imaging system. Jean-Baptiste Sibarita has developed the high throughput deconvolution, so important for the success of this technique. My group at the Curie Institute has engaged in studying the mechanism of spindle positioning in polarized epithelial cells, and the role of the D/D pathway. This work will be continued in my new (and final ?) location at the University of Strasbourg. We aim at identifying the upstream elements binding D/D, LIS1 and CLIP-170 to the cellular cortex and regulating their functioning.