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Lab website: www.thelowlab.org

Imperial Page: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/h.low

Mini CV

1998-2001: MA in Biological Sciences, Oxford University

2002-2006: PhD at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge.

2006-2008: Postdoc at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge. 

2009-2012: Postdoc at Birkbeck College, London. 

2013-2018: Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow, Imperial College.

Current: Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow, Imperial College.

Low LAB MEMBERS:

Dr Michael Hohl

Research Associate

Michael is interested in structural and functional investigations of bacterial secretion systems to find out how these systems help the cell to interact with the environment. Several bacterial secretion systems give the bacteria an advantage allowing them to form for example biofilms. The biofilm formation is directly connected to antibiotic resistance a fast emerging problem nowadays.

Max Manley PhD StudentCell membranes separate the complex inner workings of the cell from its environment and are vital to life itself. Max aims to understand how bacteria remodel their cell membranes. His work focuses on bacterial dynamin-like protein and PspA, both of which have eukaryotic homologues. Thus, these proteins could reveal ancient conserved principles of membrane remodelling across all three kingdoms of life. Max studies these proteins using a combination of cryo-electron microscopy, biophysical and biochemical techniques.

Max Manley

PhD Student

Cell membranes separate the complex inner workings of the cell from its environment and are vital to life itself. Max aims to understand how bacteria remodel their cell membranes. His work focuses on bacterial dynamin-like protein and PspA, both of which have eukaryotic homologues. Thus, these proteins could reveal ancient conserved principles of membrane remodelling across all three kingdoms of life. Max studies these proteins using a combination of cryo-electron microscopy, biophysical and biochemical techniques.

Andrew Morrison

PhD Student

Andrew’s research concerns new methodologies to discover antibiotics from these uncultivable bacteria and from silent antibiotic biosynthetic gene clusters. He focuses on in situ cultivation, a technique involving growing bacteria in their native habitat, and adapting it into high-throughput screening strategies. Andrew also focuses on increasing the efficiency of antibiotic detection utilising fluorescent/bioluminescent model pathogens as reporter systems.

Dr Matteo TassinariResearch Associate Matteo is working on secretion of specific virulence factors allowing pathogenic bacteria to attack target cells and, in some cases, to survive within the host. The TAD pili transport system represents a subtype of the Type IV filament secretion systems. The TAD system has been found in many bacterial phyla, including Gram positive and Gram negative pathogens. It is mainly involved in the secretion of pilins subunits, which in turn compose the pili, an elongated extra-cellular structure anchored to the cell wall involved in substrate adhesion. The objective of this research project is to understand the molecular mechanism underlying TAD system function using structural biology techniques such as cryo-electron microscopy.

Dr Matteo Tassinari

Research Associate

Matteo is working on secretion of specific virulence factors allowing pathogenic bacteria to attack target cells and, in some cases, to survive within the host. The TAD pili transport system represents a subtype of the Type IV filament secretion systems. The TAD system has been found in many bacterial phyla, including Gram positive and Gram negative pathogens. It is mainly involved in the secretion of pilins subunits, which in turn compose the pili, an elongated extra-cellular structure anchored to the cell wall involved in substrate adhesion. The objective of this research project is to understand the molecular mechanism underlying TAD system function using structural biology techniques such as cryo-electron microscopy.