YSF Speakers

Keynote speakers

Patricia Monteiro is a Group Leader at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Portugal. Her lab uses rodent behavioral tasks, electrophysiological brain recordings, molecular biology, optogenetics and chemogenetic techniques to study brain circuits involved in neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, autism spectrum disorders and chronic stress. Dr Monteiro is an Advisory Board Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), serving for their Scientific Exchange Grants program since 2020.

Opening Lecture: 'Synaptic and circuit mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders'

Ana J. García-Sáez is a professor at the Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne, Germany, where she has been a faculty member since 2019. Since October 2023 she has concurrently assumed the position of the Director of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Biophysics in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Her primary areas of research include cell death, biophysics, molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry and advanced microscopy. Her projects have been centered around membrane organization and dynamics, apoptosis regulation, Bcl-2 proteins, and single-molecule techniques. Prof. Dr Garcia Saez’s scientific achievements have been recognized by her selection as an EMBO Young Investigator and a Henriette Herz-Scout of the Alexander von Humboldt foundation, and by two prestigious ERC (European Research Council) grants.

Keynote Lecture (provisional title): 'Illuminating cell death mechanisms'

David Jeruzalmi is a Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at City College of New York. His research group is interested in the molecular mechanisms that underlie the faithful transmission of genetic information. The lab currently focuses on two areas: the machinery associated with DNA replication initiation and nucleotide excision repair. A large body of work has described the associated complexes and details of how they operate. And yet, something as fundamental as a three-dimensional image of the active entity in various stages of operation remains elusive. The goal of research in the Jeruzalmi laboratory is to provide a structural view of these "machines" and, by concomitant application of biochemical approaches, to provide a fundamental understanding of the underlying mechanisms. In addition to scientific research, Jeruzalmi also works to prepare the next generation of scientists by organizing four undergraduate and post-bac research programs. 

Keynote Lecture: 'Proteins that do interesting with DNA'

Marco Moracci is full professor of biochemistry of the University of Naples ‘Federico II’ and associate researcher of the National Research Council of Italy. He leads a group specialized in the study of enzymes active on carbohydrates, with a special focus on those from (hyper)thermophilic microorganisms. His research interests include also the understanding of the molecular bases of the adaptation of enzymes to extreme conditions. He is one of the founders and the current president of the Italian Society of Astrobiology, is a member of the Directive Council of the Italian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and since 2014 he is developing an ESFRI Research Infrastructure on Industrial Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology.

Keynote Lecture: 'Thermozymes for biorefineries: the biodiversity of extreme environments for the circular economy'

Career Speakers

Keith Elliott has spent 40 years teaching and researching, mainly in the areas of metabolism and enzymology at the University of Manchester, UK, developing a particular interest in education and career development. He has chaired the Education Committee and been Careers Advisor for the UK Biochemical Society. He was a founder member of the FEBS Education Committee and has run workshops on educational methods and career development in 30 FEBS countries. He has been running CV support sessions at the YSF since 2007 and was awarded the FEBS Diplôme d’honneur in 2014 for his contributions.

Topic: CV preparation

Jana Christopher has worked in Image Integrity since 2011; she was the first Data Integrity Analyst at EMBO Press and joined FEBS in 2017 as Image Data Integrity Analyst for the four journals at FEBS Press. Jana founded her own business Image-Integrity in 2015 and has been a consultant and trainer for various publishers/journals including The Royal Society, SpringerNature, eLife, Frontiers and the RSC, and regularly presents to students and early career scientists. She is a member of the STM Image Alterations & Duplications Working Group.

Topic: Publishing integrity

Alain Krol is Director of Research emeritus at the CNRS and Professor conventionné at the University of Strasbourg, France. He served as a FEBS Fellowships Committee member for four years (2013–2016) and has been the Chair of the committee (now called the FEBS Excellence Awards and Fellowships Committee) since 2017. From the beginning of his career, his research interests have been centred on the function and structure of various RNAs and RNA–protein ensembles involved in RNA maturation and translation.

Topic: FEBS Fellowships

Jason Perret is professor emeritus of the Free University of Brussels (ULB) Medical Faculty, Belgium. Besides 35 years of basic and translational medical research, he also spent 4 years in industry as head of the Molecular Biology lab at Baxter Healthcare research facilty in Belgium. He spent 10 years supervising and managing Biochemistry wet labs and 15 years teaching Molecular Biology to medical, biomedical and veterinary students but also to Biomedical Civil Engineers. He has also supervised or co-supervised PhDs, MD clinician-researchers and 40 Biomedical and Medical Master's theses. Jason is currently President of the Belgian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He has also been with FEBS since 2003 as a member of the FEBS education working group and then committee, and actively contributing to FEBS education activities such as presenting talks and workshops on various topics.

Topic: Lab books

Ferhan G. Sağın, MD, PhD is a Professor of Medical Biochemistry at Ege University Medical Faculty, Izmir, Türkiye.  After being in active research for 15 years, she moved her main focus to education and training of young scientists (although still continuing some research). She has delivered more than 200 national and international talks and/or workshops on education and soft skills training. She served on the Executive Board at the International Association of Medical Science Educators (2009–2012), and currently has seats on a variety of Boards/Committees including the Turkish Biochemistry Society (Executive Board/vice-president and TBS Academy/Chair), the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB/Education Committee Member) and FEBS (Chair of the FEBS Education Committee since 2019).

Topic: Educator skills