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h2020

Exchanges with ClickGene Alumni for the final event

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On September 25, the NATURE-ETN ESRs got together for the final project event.

During this online session, the NATURE-ETN ESRs had the chance to hear from alumni of the ClickGene project, a European Training Network in click chemistry and gene therapy, coordinated by Prof. Kellett (DCU) in collaboration with other NATURE-ETN PIs, including Prof. Brown (UOXF), Prof. Carell (LMU), Prof. Hocek (IOCB), and the companies baseclick and ATDBio.

The four ClickGene alumni shared diverse career paths spanning academia, start-ups, and major pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Bastien Viverge (Senior Manager, Regulatory CMC – Clinical Lead, Biogen, CH), Dr. Sarah Walsh (Applied Platform Workflows Manager, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, UK), Dr. Nicolò Zuin Fantoni (Senior Scientist – Oligonucleotides, Roche, CH), and Dr. Georgia Menounou (Postdoctoral Researcher, DCU, IE) each discussed their post-PhD journeys.

We thank the ClickGene alumni for their time and valuable advice to our ESRs.

Dr. Marco Cavallaro (accelCH) also introduced the ESRs to EU funding opportunities for postdocs, industry-academia collaborations, and start-ups/SMEs, highlighting resources that could be useful after obtaining their PhD, whether they pursue careers in academia or industry.

NATURE-ETN counts two new Doctors

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We are delighted to announce that our ESRs Eva Sophie Schönegger (baseclick/LMU) and Ahmad Abdullrahman (University of Reading) recently passed their viva. Eva spent her NATURE-ETN journey at the company baseclick and the Carell group at LMU Munich, while Ahmad completed his PhD at the University of Reading under the co-supervision of Dr. James Hall and Prof. Christine Cardin.

We congratulate Dr. Schönegger and Dr. Abdullrahman on this key milestone in their career!

New Publication in Chemical Science

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Our former ESR, now postdoc at the University of Reading, Tayler D. Prieto published a new paper in Chemical Science, titled “Re-pairing DNA: binding of a ruthenium phi complex to a double mismatch”, in collaboration with Diamond Light Source Ltd. and the Kellett group at the Dublin City University.

The paper is available Open Access on the publisher’s website.

NATURE-ETN Symposium in Paris, France

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On the 9th and 10th of November 2023, the Gasser group at Chimie ParisTech hosted the NATURE-ETN Symposium at their premises in Paris, France.

The Symposium was centred on the path from basic research to commercialisation and/or clinical trials. We had the privilege to hear from eminent speakers such as Marie Dutreix (Institut Curie, co-founder of DNA Therapeutics), Thomas Carell (Founder of baseclick), Tom Brown (co-founder of three biotechs, including our partner ATDBio), Nick Farrell (Virginia Commonwealth University), Patrick Couvreur (University Paris-Saclay and serial entrepreneur), Laurence Mulard (Institut Pasteur), and Mark Bazett (Director of Preclinical Development at Bold Therapeutics Inc.).

Some ESRs also presented their poster during the event reception at the beautiful Chimie ParisTech library.

We thank the Gasser group for the smooth organisation, as well as all the speakers for their precious insights from basic science to applications.

New publication on super cytotoxic Re(I) complexes

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Collaborative work between researchers from the University of the Free World in South Africa and the Gasser group at PSL University has just been published in Inorganic Chemistry. This work notably includes a contribution from our ESR Maria Dalla Pozza.

This paper presents Re(I) carbonyl complexes with exceptionally low nanomolar cytotoxic activity toward prostate cancer cells, demonstrating further the future viability of utilising rhenium in the fight against cancer.

It is available Open Access here.

Tania’s secondments from Warsaw to Oxford

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Our ESR Tania Sánchez Quirante from the Hocek group at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry in Czechia recently did two secondments at the Universities of Warsaw (Poland) and Oxford (UK).

From January to February 2023, Tania did her first secondment at the Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Biophysical Chemistry at the University of Warsaw, where she synthesized and purified modified cap RNA 70nt long and modified mRNA by in-vitro transcription. She also learned how to do in-vitro translation using the rabbit reticulocyte system.

In April 2023, she stayed at the Tom Brown group at the University of Oxford. She synthesized modified single-guide RNA 99nt long by in-vitro transcription reaction and used this sgRNA to perform CRISPR-Cas experiments. In addition, she did stability experiments of the modified sgRNA in Human serum.

Crystal clear insight: ESRs explore the world of crystallography and structural biology

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The Early-Stage Researchers (ESRs) were thrilled to participate in the 5th training week about nucleic acids and crystallography. The first two days were spent attending the Oligo 2023 conference in Oxford. They listened to experts talk about nucleic acid, base modification, aptamers, and more. They were fascinated by the new developments and ideas in this field.

After the conference, the ESRs visited the Oxford Nanopore Technologies research facilities. They gained a deep understanding of how the research industry works and how scientists turn their ideas into reality. The ESRs were impressed by the state-of-the-art facilities and the advanced equipment used for research.

The next two days were spent at the University of Reading, where the ESRs attended engaging talks about crystallography and data processing. They had the opportunity to participate in hands-on activities such as crystallisation, plate preparation, high throughput robot, and learning to recognise and collect good crystals. Finally, they collected data from the X-ray, which was an exciting experience for them.

After a free afternoon spent in London, the ESRs were welcomed at Diamond Light Source. They were given an intense tour of the different facilities and beam lines available at the synchrotron. They gained an understanding of the Cryo-EM and laser technology used in the field of structural biology for protein and nucleic acids. It was an eye-opening experience for them, and they had a lot of fun learning about this exciting field. Overall, the ESRs found the 5th training week about nucleic acids and crystallography to be an enlightening experience. They were exposed to the latest developments in the field, and the hands-on experience provided them with a deeper understanding of the processes involved. They were inspired to continue their research with renewed enthusiasm and curiosity.

By Ahmad Abdullrahman (ESR4)