MEET THE LAB
NICOLAS THOMÄ
Group Leader
Ph.D., University of Cambridge
nicolas.thoma[at]fmi.ch
Nico was an undergraduate in Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge (UK), where he also completed his Ph.D. in enzymology and structural biology jointly with Peter Leadlay (University of Cambridge) and Phil Evans (MRC-LMB Cambridge). He then was a postdoc with Roger Goody (Max-Plank Institute, Dortmund) focusing on protein-ligand interactions. In 2001 he moved to the laboratory of Nikola Pavletich (Memorial Sloan Kettering, New York) to complete his training in X-ray crystallography. Nico became a group leader at the FMI in 2006, where he has been tenured as of 2011.
JACOB AGUIRRE
Postdoc, EMBO fellow
Ph.D., University of Western Ontario, Canada
jacob.aguirre[at]fmi.ch
Jake completed his Ph.D at the University of Western Ontario in 2017 studying RBR ubiquitin ligase activation under the supervision of Dr. Gary Shaw. In the Thomä lab, he is studying how cullin-RING ubiquitin ligases, the largest family of E3 enzymes, ensure faithful replication of genomic information. He uses a variety of biophysical and structural techniques, including cryo-EM, to elucidate these processes at the atomic level.
SIMONE CAVADINI
Project Leader, EM Competency Center
simone.cavadini[at]fmi.ch
Simone studied chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) where he received his PhD in 2009 for developing new NMR techniques to probe the structure and dynamics of biomolecules under the supervision of Prof. Geoffrey Bodenhausen. He then moved for a short period to the Institut Biochimique SA (IBSA) in Lugano, Switzerland, where he worked as a mass spectrometry scientist, helping to establish their mass spectrometry facility. In 2011 he joined the Thomä laboratory at FMI for post-doctoral studies on the CRL-CSN complexes before becoming a project leader in 2014. Since 2016 he holds a shared position between the group of Dr. Nicolas Thomä and the electron microscopy facility under Dr. Christel Genoud. Together with his colleague Dr. Andreas Schenk they support FMI users to utilise cryo-EM for their scientific research, contribute to the setup and development of the cryo-EM facility shared with Novartis and explore and validate new methods for single-particle cryo-EM.
DEYASINI CHAKRABORTY
Ph.D. student
M.Sc. in Microbiology, University of Calcutta
deyasini.chakraborty[at]fmi.ch
Deyasini received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Microbiology from the University of Calcutta in 2019. Before joining the Thomä lab for her PhD, she worked in the lab of Sonal Nagarkar Jaiswal at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India. She worked on understanding the roles of a microcephaly-related gene and subunits of COP9 Signalosome complex in neural development in Drosophila. In the Thomä lab, she is interested in studying the molecular interplay between transcription factors and chromatin remodellers.
SEEMON COOMAR
Postdoc
M.Sc. in Chemistry, University of Zurich
seemon.coomar[at]fmi.ch
Seemon studied chemistry at the University of Zürich and did his master thesis in physical organic chemistry in the group of Prof. Dr. Peter Chen. Hereafter he decided to gather all his courage to do a PhD and joined the group of Prof. Dr. Dennis Gillingham (University of Basel). During this time, he explored small molecule protein degraders (i.e. PROTACs and molecular glues) with a particular focus around a class of sulfonamides targeting CRL4DCAF15. In March 2021 he gathered all of his remaining courage and crossed the river to join the Thomä lab where he is currently working on various projects around targeted protein degradation via the Ubiquitin proteasomal pathway.
DAVID DOMJAN
Intern
M.Sc. in Chemistry, ETH Zurich
david.domjan[at]fmi.ch
David was an undergraduate in Chemistry at the University of Vienna and did his BSc thesis in the Friml lab, which is studying plant cell biology. This stay has led him to become fascinated by molecular biology. Right after, he moved to Switzerland to receive his master's degree from ETH Zürich. Here, he did his thesis in the lab of Prof. Stefanie Jonas studying RNA processing machineries in the context of the Integrator complex. David then swam directly to Basel and in the Thomä lab his interest lies in understanding the molecular and structural basis for DNA-binding by proteins - as well as their targeted degradation.
VIVIAN FOCHT
Research Associate
M.Sc. in Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Freiburg
vivian.focht[at]fmi.ch
Vivian completed her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Freiburg, Germany, where she continued her studies with the Master program Biochemistry and Biophysics. Ever since her Bachelor thesis work in the lab of Oliver Einsle, she is fascinated by structural biology. Therefore, she joint the Thomä lab for a research internship in 2020, followed by her Master thesis. Vivian is now supporting the Thomä lab as a research associate with the performance of biochemical assays and structural characterisation of protein complexes involved in targeted protein degradation.
PIUS GALLI
Master Student
B.Sc. in Molecular Biology, Biozentrum, Basel
pius.galli[at]fmi.ch
Pius did his B.Sc. in Molecular Biology at the Biozentrum in Basel. In the Thomä lab he's studying the molecular basis of complex zinc-finger degradation for his Master Thesis.
ZUZANNA KOZICKA
Ph.D. Student, UbiCODE fellow
M.Sc. in Chemistry, University of Edinburgh
zuzanna.kozicka[at]fmi.ch
Zuzanna received her Intergrated Masters degree in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh. During the course of her studies, she also pursued research projects at ETH Zurich (Prof. Nenad Ban) and the University of Dundee (Prof. Alessio Ciulli). In the Thoma lab, she is working on finding novel chemical matter for targeted degradation of DNA-binding proteins.
ALICIA MICHAEL
Postdoc, EMBO/HFSP fellow
Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz
alicia.michael[at]fmi.ch
Alicia received her B.S. in Biochemistry from Western Washington University where she worked in an organometallic chemistry lab under the supervision of Dr. Timothy Clark. She then moved to sunny Santa Cruz, California to do her Ph.D with Carrie Partch, studying the molecular details of circadian rhythms. In the Thomä lab, she is working on elucidating the structural basis of transcriptional regulatory complexes.
GANESH PATHARE
Postdoc
Ph.D., Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Munich
ganesh.pathare[at]fmi.ch
Ganesh received his B.S. Agricultural Biotechnology in Mahatma Phule Agricultural University, India. He then moved to Europe and did his Masters research at the University of Uppsala, Sweden. He completed his Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich, Germany under the supervision of Wolfgang Baumeister studying the 26S proteasome.
CARLOS PLA PRATS
Ph.D. Student
M.Sc. in Molecular Biology, Madrid
carlos.pla-prats[at]fmi.ch
Carlos completed a B.Sc. in Chemistry and an M.Sc. in Molecular Biology in Madrid. He did internships in the labs of Carlos Fernández Tornero and Daniel Lietha, where he developed a fascination with the molecular basis of life. He spent the following year in the labs of Alessandro Vannini (Institute of Cancer Research, London) and Wojtek Galej (European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Grenoble). There he studied proteins involved in transcription by RNA pol III and mRNA maturation before joining the Thomä lab for his PhD. He is now interested in the ever-expanding role of ubiquitin ligases as regulators of key cellular processes.
COLBY SANDATE
Postdoc
Ph.D., Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla
colby.sandate[at]fmi.ch
Colby received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Cruz. While there he worked in the lab of Carrie Partch, studying the biophysical properties of circadian proteins. He then moved to La Jolla to pursue his PhD with Gabriel Lander at the Scripps Research Institute, where he investigated the structural biology of AAA+ ATPases and circadian oscillators using single particle cryo-EM. In the Thomä Lab he pursues his interest in the molecular and structural biology of DNA-binding proteins - and their targeted degradation.
MIRA SCHÜTZ-STOFFREGEN
Lab Manager
Assistant for Biotechnology, NTA, Isny im Allgäu
mira.schuetz[at]fmi.ch
In more than ten years working as a research associate in a structural biology lab focusing on protein degradation (Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen and University of Regensburg, both Germany) Mira gathered experience in different DNA and protein associated techniques as well as organizing a lab.
In her current position she supports the group here and there and takes care that everyone can work in a smooth-running lab.
LISA STOOS
Ph.D Student
M.Sc. in Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Freiburg
lisa.stoos[at]fmi.ch
Lisa completed her Bachelor in Chemistry, followed by a Master’s degree in Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Freiburg, Germany. After gaining first insights into X-ray crystallography during her Bachelor thesis in the lab of Prof. Thorsten Friedrich, Lisa was interested in learning more about cryo-EM and therefore joined the Thomä lab for a research internship and her Master thesis. Since then, she is working on identifying the mechanistic principles employed by transcription factors to read out specific sites on nucleosomes.
LUCA VECCHIA
Postdoc
MD, Ph.D., University of Oxford
luca.vecchia[at]fmi.ch
Luca graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 2010 from the University of Pavia (Italy) and specialized in Clinical Pathology at the same University (2011-2016). Considering structural biology a key tool to uncover molecular mechanisms involved in human diseases and bring innovative treatment to patients, he subsequently enrolled in the Cellular Structural Biology PhD programme at the University of Oxford (2016-2021). There, he studied the structural basis of cell-cell communication and morphogen trafficking in the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, under the supervision of prof. Yvonne Jones. In the Thoma lab, he will go downstream in the cell and focus on the interaction between transcription factors (TF) and chromatin remodelers, to understand from a molecular perspective how TFs are deposited and maintained at regions of open chromatin.
JOSCHA WEISS
Master Student
B.Sc. in Biosciences, University of Heidelberg
joscha.weiss[at]fmi.ch
Joscha received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Heidelberg. He joined the Thomä lab during the course of his master studies and was mainly working on sequencing-based assays that enable the determination of specific protein-nucleosome interactions. After finishing his Master’s degree, Joscha decided to stay in the Thomä lab for his PhD and is currently working on multiple projects aiming to understand how transcriptional regulators deal with nucleosomes.