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 6-year old little ballerina, princess and his 2-year old little car fanatic.
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Tomas Pascoa
Postdoctoral researcher
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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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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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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Yat Kei Lo
PhD Student
Can we combat global warming by turning CO2 into fuel, fabric, plastic, or any commodity efficiently? Yat Kei is curious about how organisms capture CO2 and how we can use their amazing ability to build a green future.
After getting his MSc in LMU München, Yat Kei is currently investigating mechanisms of various prokaryotic carbon concentration mechanisms (CCM) – extraordinary adaptations driving carbon fixation using structural, biochemical, and molecular techniques. He aims to translate his finding into an efficient synthetic carbon-harnessing machinery. He believes learning from the nature is the key to a sustainable future.
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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.
Fidel Ramírez-Amador
PhD student
Fidel graduated in Biotechnology and obtained a master's degree in Biochemistry in Mexico at the IPN and UNAM, respectively. His current projects revolve around the methanogenic machinery in archaea. Solving the structure of such anaerobic complexes should help 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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Lena Schmück
PhD student
Lena completed both her Bachelor in Biology and a master's degree in Biochemistry at the Philipps-University Marburg. Now, for her PhD, she investigates the cyanobacterial Sulfur Mobilization Machinery (SUF). This is a very interesting mechanism, which assembles and transfers Iron-Sulfur-Clusters into target proteins. She wants to learn how a metallic cluster is formed within this kind of complexes as well as understand the function of its puzzling ATPase activity.
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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 master thesis, she is working on cultivating anaerobes and purifying exciting proteins that are bioenergetically relevant.
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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 obtained her BS from the Philipps University Marburg, where she specialized in developmental genetics. Now, as she pursues her MS, her interests have shifted towards the fields of structural biology and protein biochemistry. For her thesis, she investigates the Fe-S cluster assembly machinery to gain deeper insights into this fascinating pathway.
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Ana Ilieva
Master student
Ana has a background in biotechnology and developed a keen interest in determining 3D protein structures after working on protein coating-related infectious potential of closely related viruses for her bachelor thesis. She is currently a student assistant and works with microalgae.
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Tim Render
Master 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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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
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.