Jan Michael Schuller
Group Leader, Mentor, CryoEM Maniac and Father
Jan's motivation is to understand biological CO2 fixation and to combine the obtained knowledge with synthetic biology and biotechnological methods to help combat man-made climate change.
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He is writing grants, papers, sits in committees and video conferences... PI stuff. Sometimes he interferes with peoples CryoEM processing.
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In his free-time he is mainly a proud father of two kids. A little ballerina, princess and his little firetruck fanatic.
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Tomas Páscoa
Postdoctoral researcher
​​Tomás Páscoa completed his BSc at the University of York, where he was initially trained in X-ray crystallography. He then obtained his PhD in Cellular Structural Biology at the University of Oxford, combining X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM and mass spectrometry to study enzymatic mechanisms. Since moving to Marburg, he has established cryo-electron tomography workflows in the lab. His work focuses on visualising macromolecular complexes directly within cells, particularly to investigate metabolic pathways in anaerobic microorganisms and link molecular structure to cellular function.​
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Outside of work, he enjoys trail running and hiking.
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Lisa Westrich
Postdoctoral researcher
Lisa studied at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, where she obtained a bachelor in Biosciences and a master in Microbial and Plant Biotechnology. There she also pursued her PhD in the group of Prof. Felix Willmund, working on the ribosome's interactome and protein homeostasis in the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas. Later on, she joined the group of Dr. Angela Falciatore - under the supervision of Dr. Katia Wostrikoff - at the Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique in Paris, where she studied the assembly of Rubisco employing genetic and biochemical methods as well as mass spectrometry. Since she moved to Marburg, Lisa continues her work on protein complexes involved in chloroplast gene expression, but now from a more structural perspective.
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Clint Gabel
Postdoctoral researcher
Clinton (Clint) received his BS in Biology and BA in Spanish from Texas Tech University. After his undergraduate studies, Clint received his Ph.D. working under Dr. Leifu Chang studying CRISPR-Cas systems and microtubule associated proteins and complexes involved in mitotic spindle assembly. Clint aims to decipher the organization and regulation of bioenergetic complexes in acetogens.
Outside of work, Clint enjoys cooking, baking, running, and Spanish literature.
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Sandra Schuller
Postdoctoral researcher
After discovering in her scientific life in Munich, that in crystallography luck is not on her side, Sandra decided to put her samples on EM grids instead. Ever since she spends her time in preparing, optimizing and screening EM grids, as well as bringing content into densities.
As she has two kids and loves penguins, she decided that her scientific time is better spent in helping to fight climate change and understanding how microorganisms fixate CO2.
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Anuj Kumar
Postdoctoral researcher
Anuj received his BS-MS from IISER Mohali, India. His goal is to decipher the structural dynamics of protein complexes that play an important role in bioenergetic processes. To do this, he uses a comprehensive combination of techniques, including cryo-EM and molecular dynamics simulation.
Before he came to the lab, he worked at the German Electron Synchrotron Hamburg, and at the Kavli Institute Of Nanoscience at TU Delft.
When he is not in the laboratory, he likes to spend his time reading books.
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Duncan Kountz
Postdoctoral researcher
Duncan received his BS from Ohio State University where he was introduced to anaerobic microbiology and biochemistry in Prof. Joseph Krzycki's lab. He then completed his PhD in chemical biology in Prof. Emily Balskus's lab at Harvard University. In between his PhD and joining the Schuller lab, he was a postdoctoral researcher and Pioneer Fellow in Prof. Stephen Ragsdale's lab at the University of Michigan.
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Duncan has broad-ranging research interests in microbial physiology, bioenergetics, biochemistry, and mechanistic enzymology.
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Fidel Ramírez-Amador
Postdoctoral researcher
Fidel graduated in Biotechnology and obtained a master's degree in Biochemistry in Mexico at the IPN and UNAM, respectively. He received his PhD at the Schuller lab in 2025, focusing in the activation of methanogenesis. His current projects revolve around the methanogenic machinery in archaea as well as other anaerobic systems, aiming to unravel their activity mechanisms and interactions.
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Out of the lab he enjoys traveling and visiting new places.
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Tristan Reif-Trauttmansdorff
PhD student
After completing his master studies in Berlin, Tristan came to Marburg to work with a variety of strictly anaerobic microorganisms for his PhD. From the oxygen-free cultures to the implementation of native purification techniques, his ultimate goal is the isolation and analysis of molecular machines involved in energy conservation - in both acetogenic bacteria and methanogenic archaea.
Lena Schmück
PhD student
Lena completed both her Bachelor in Biology and a master's degree in Biochemistry at the Philipps-University Marburg. For her PhD, she is working on the structural and functional characterization of proteins involved in the Sulfur Utilization Factor and the enzymatic complexes involved in acetogenesis.
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Gyana Mahapatra
PhD student
Gyana completed his Masters in Cell Biology from McGill University. He had several enriching research experiences at McGill University and the Indian Institute of Science - the most notable ones have involved work on the Type VII secretion system and structural aspects of the Nisin transporter.
Here at the Schuller lab, Gyana is interested in utilizing structural biology techniques to better understand molecular insights into photosynthesis. He enjoys cooking, reading, and experiencing different cuisines when not in the lab.
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Sophia Paul
PhD student
Sophia completed her Bachelors in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Jena. There after, she joined Philipps University Marburg for a master's degree with a focus on protein biochemistry and structural biology. During her tenure as a master's student, she did various internships, including one in which she was trained on cryo-EM/ET in the Netherlands. She has gained experiences with projects demanding molecular biology and protein expression/purification. For her PhD, she is working on the biochemical and structural elucidation of enzymes involved in methanogenesis.
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Erik Zimmer
PhD student
Erik has been studying biochemistry at the University of Tuebingen since 2017 and is currently doing his master’s degree. Through previous internships and lab rotations in Tuebingen, Munich and Frankfurt (Main), he has gained experience in X-ray crystallography, assisted protein folding and electrophysiology, respectively. In April 2023, Erik moved to Marburg to start his master thesis in the Schuller lab. He is working on the structural and functional characterization of membrane proteins involved in methanogenesis.
Mail: zimmere@staff.uni-marburg.de
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Gisela Jinthana Hartmann
PhD student
Thana completed her Master's degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the Philipps-University of Marburg. She is currently using cryoET to study the cellular organization of algae, tackling the question of how plants adapted to life on land. Her work focuses on resolving macromolecular assemblies in situ and linking their structural organization to an evolutionary context.
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Outside the lab, she enjoys sports, art, and spending time with her loved ones.
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Tim Render
PhD student
Tim completed a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry at the University of Tübingen, where he first fell in love with acetogenic bacteria during a genetics-focused thesis project. Pursuing this interest, he moved to Marburg for a Master's in Biochemistry, specializing in anaerobic microbiology. Currently, Tim investigates the molecular machines of acetogens and methanogens, focusing on their roles in energy conservation and COâ‚‚ fixation.
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Hong-Yi Li
Microcosm Earth Center fellow
Hong Yi obtained his Master’s degree from National Taiwan University. He previously conducted research on heat acclimation memory in Arabidopsis at the Academia Sinica. His current research focuses on investigating diverse molecular mechanisms in cyanobacteria and Chlamydomonas using structural biology. It is perfectly normal for Hong Yi to speak less than one sentence a week.​
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Mail:
Felix Obinna Mgbekwute
Master student
Felix obtained a degree in Biochemistry from Imo State University (IMSU), Nigeria. During his lab internship in the group, he investigated the structural basis of protein complexes from different methanogenic species. For his master's thesis, he is currently analyzing the redox properties and physiological functions of selected iron-sulfur (Fe-S) proteins.
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Styliani Papaspyrou
Master student
Stella has been studying Biology at the University of Marburg since 2020. She is interested in studying biochemistry and microbiology. Here at the Schuller lab, her project is based on understanding molecular mechanisms involved in photosynthesis. In her free time, she likes to watch movies and cook.
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Alumni
Yat Kei Lo - PhD student
Structure and mechanism of prokaryotic carbon-concentrating mechanisms
Ana Ilieva - Master student
Structural and biochemical studies of the cyanobacterial glutamine synthetase
Michael Seletskiy - Master student
Structural and functional insights of a putative carbonic anhydrase
Josef Hoff - Master student
Complexes involved in plastid gene regulation using novel vectors for E. coli and V. natriegens.
Niniane Metzner - Master student
Study of the glutamine synthetase in T. elongatus.