Members' Directory

Biography: 1984-1989 M.S in Zoology from the Leningrad State University, USSR
1990-1991 Technician, Dana-Farber Cancer institute, Boston, USA
1991-1995 Ph.D. in Cell Biology, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
1996-1999 Posdoc, Department of Physical Biochemistry, Max-Planck Institute in Dortmund, Germany
1999-2008 Group leader, Department of Physical Biochemistry, Max-Planck Institute in Dortmund, Germany
Form 2008 Professor, Department of Cell Molecular Biology, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Biography: Savvas Christoforidis is a member of BRI-FORTH, where he maintains his own research laboratory. He graduated with a degree Chemistry from the University of Thessaloniki in 1990 (Degree with Suma cum Laude), got his PhD in Biological Chemistry in the University of Ioannina in 1996 and then moved to EMBL/Heidelberg for Post-doctoral studies in the field of Cell and Molecular Biology in the group of Marino Zerial. Since 2001 he is appointed in the University of Ioannina, where he is currently Assistant Professor of Biological Chemistry. In 2002 he received the EMBO Young Investigator award. He has participated in 9 successful grant applications, in 3 of which he was the scientific responsible. He has previous experience in European grant funding since he has received a Marie Curie Individual Return grant (2000-2001) and his lab is currently participating in two European Integrated Projects (participant in “Endotrack”, 2006-2010 – Contract No LSHG-CT-2006-019050, and work package leader in “Pulmotension”, 2006-2010 – Contract No LSHM-CT-2006-018725). His work has been published in high impact Journals, such as Nature, Nature Cell Biology, Cell, Journal of Cell Biology, PLoS Biology, EMBO Journal, and has received over 2000 citations. His lab is studying the interplay between endocytosis, exocytosis and signalling in vascular remodelling.

Biography: 1998: PhD in cell Biology, Strasbourg, France

1999-2001: Post-Doc with Marino Zerial, EMBL, Germany

2001-present: Researcher/Group leader.
Topics: Molecular mechanisms of the regulated exo-endocytosis cycle of secretory granules in neuroendocrine cells. Involvement of Rho GTPases and actin cytoskeleton.

Biography: Heidi McBride joined the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine as a Principle Investigator in the Lipoprotein and Atherosclerosis Group at the Heart Institute in September, 2000, following a 4 year post-doc at the European Molecular Biology Laboratories (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. Her undergraduate degree was obtained in the department of Biochemistry at McGill University in Montreal, where she also obtained her Ph.D in Biochemistry with Dr. Gordon Shore. There she uncovered novel principles in mitochondrial protein biogenesis, with the identification of new transport signals and investigated how mitochondrial receptor proteins recognize the correct signal sequences for entry into the organelle. From there she moved to Heidelberg to work with Dr. Marino Zerial studying the function of Rab GTPases and the molecular mechanisms that govern vesicular traffic within the early endosome. Specifically, she uncovered molecular links between the Rab5 effectors and components of the SNARE fusion machinery. These findings demonstrated that Rab effectors form dynamic oligomeric complexes after recruitment to the endosomal membrane whose assembly and disassembly is regulated by the SNARE chaperones, NSF and SNAP. Transient interactions between the Rab5 effector EEA1 and Syntaxin 13 temporally couple vesicle tethering with activation of the SNARE complexes to drive bilayer fusion. Armed with the experience in how to approach complex problems in cell biology, she now returns her focus to the to investigation of mitochondrial dynamics, including fission, fusion and communication mechanisms with other organelles within the cell. Heidi was born in Pembroke, Ontario and raised on a farm in Westmeath, Ontario, Canada.

Biography: PhD, Madrid 1992
Post-Doc at EMBL, Cell Biology Programme, 1993-1996
Post-Doc at the Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire in Strasbourg, 1996-1998
Senior Sciencist, Amersham Biosciences (UK), 1998 to 2003.
Group Leader, 4-Antibody AG (Germany), 2004-2008
Director, Head R&D Germany, 4-Antibody AG (Germany), 2009-to date

Biography: See homepage