MIMS Spotlight Series: Meet Stefanie Willekens

Text written by Nóra Lehotai and Stefanie Willekens. Pictures owned by Stefanie Willekens. 

I had a chat with Stefanie, who joined the Överby lab in February 2021 as a postdoctoral fellow. However, she was no stranger to Umeå by that time. Stefanie has a Belgian nationality and has lived in the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden throughout her career. She shares her life with her dog, motorbike and an impressive stiletto collection.

Can you tell us about your role at MIMS, what are you working on now? 

I am working in Anna Överby’s group, mainly on flaviviruses, but I am the only one in Anna’s group who is not a virologist. I have a
background in imaging. I did my PhD in nucleo imaging, so I am someone who is more specialized in image processing. I am developing new imaging strategies for visualizing viral spread in neurotropic viruses in the brain. In short: brain mapping of virus infection, what type of viruses and what do they cause in the brain and how to visualize that with imaging techniques, this is my main topic.

Read more: MIMS Spotlight Series: Meet Stefanie Willekens

PATHOgenex RNA atlas - one of the best 50 articles in the area of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Text written by Nóra Lehotai

Illustration of the PATHOgenex, a freely available online RNA atlas of 32 human bacterial pathogens exposed to 11 infection relevant stress. Illutsration by Kemal Avican.

The recently published scientific article of MIMS researcher Kemal Avican and MIMS group leader Maria Fällman and their co-authors, is now among the Nature Communication's Editor Highlight articles as one of the best 50 publications in the area of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. It is a great achievement to conquer in such a short time as the article got published just in the beginning of June 2021. 
Both Maria and Kemal, the corresponding authors of the study, predicted that their work on stress responses in cross-microbial species, resulting in the PATHOgenex RNA atlas (www.pathogenex.org), could give a new, interactive tool into the hands of scientists to better understand adaptation strategies of different bacterial pathogens and give rise to the development of AI-powered approaches to solve complex research questions. Receiving this editorial highlight, also shows that this work is of particular interest and potential. 

Read more: PATHOgenex RNA atlas - one of the best 50 articles in the area of Microbiology and Infectious...

PostDoc or PhD Position in the Henriksson Lab

Understanding CAR T cells through machine learning and advanced bioinformatics

Johan Henriksson, a MIMS group leader, is currently seeking a postdoctoral researcher or PhD student to dissect T cell regulation using single-cell methods and CRISPR screening. While the overall goal is to develop CAR T-cell technology, this position is geared towards sharpening our analysis methods. Of particular interest include better statistics for CRISPR-UMI pooled screens, gene regulation (ATAC-seq, HiC) and gene isoforms (RNA-seq).

Candidates who are strong in any of computer science, mathematics, statistics or machine learning are encouraged to apply. An interest in learning biology is essential and some basic insight will already help plenty. An overview of what we do, and contact information, can be found at http://henlab.org/

Read more: PostDoc or PhD Position in the Henriksson Lab

PostDoc position in the Sixt Lab available

PostDoc Position – Deciphering Host-Pathogen-Interactions through High-Throughput Genetic Screening

We are currently seeking a postdoctoral researcher for a project that will apply high-throughput genetic screening (e.g. CRISPR/Cas9 screening, siRNA screening, bacterial mutant library screening) to identify key players in host-pathogen interaction, cell-autonomous immunity and immune evasion during infection with the obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis.

The Sixt Lab is part of the Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS) at Umeå University (located in Umeå, Sweden). MIMS is a part of the Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine and of the Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR), providing a stimulating, collaborative, and highly international environment with excellent access to modern research facilities. This includes for instance the high-content imaging platforms at the Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden (CBCS) in Umeå. The city Umeå itself combines a rich cultural life with exceptional closeness to nature and is particularly welcoming to internationals.

For more details about the application and how to apply, go to:

https://umu.varbi.com/en/?jobtoken=1f19610b192113df052a7b0467b9662d0204af1fd

Application deadline: 16 August 2021

Read more: PostDoc position in the Sixt Lab available

Anna Överby Wernstedt awarded the 2021 Eric K Fernströms Prize

Text written by Nóra Lehotai. Picture: Anna Överby Wernstedt (on the right) with one of her group members in the lab. Credit: Mattias Petterson.

Anna Överby Wernstedt, Associate Professor at the Department of Clinical Microbiology, Umeå University, and senior MIMS group leader, got awarded the prestigious Eric K Fernströms Prize for her research efforts on tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus and other mosquito- and tick-borne flaviviruses.

"This prize means a lot to me both at the personal and at the professional level. It is always nice to be recognized by others because they see potential in what you do, and this gives you a confirmation that you are on the right track”-says Anna.

The Eric K Fernströms Prize is awarded each year to young, exceptionally promising, and successful researchers working at the six Swedish universities’ medical faculties. The prizes are managed by the medical faculty at Lund University, and the prize money is donated by the Eric K Fernströms Stiftelse.

Read more: Anna Överby Wernstedt awarded the 2021 Eric K Fernströms Prize