Members

I am Prashant, born and brought up in the capital of India, Delhi. After completing my bachelor's in 2014 from my hometown, I moved to Pune for higher studies. I joined the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, under an integrated Ph.D. program. After completing my master's (2014-2016), I obtained my Ph.D. in organic chemistry under Dr. Raghavendra Kikkeri in 2021. I joined OIST as a postdoctoral fellow in May 2021 in Prof Laurino's unit. Here, I am looking forward to playing with RNAs to unravel fundamental questions surrounding the RNA universe.

Hi all! My name is Yusran; was born in Garut, Indonesia. I completed my undergraduate and master's degree in Chemistry at Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia (2010-2015). I acquired my double Ph.D. degree from the University of Groningen (the Netherlands) and KU Leuven (Belgium) in 2021. I then continued the research of my thesis for one year at IMBB-FORTH, Greece in Prof. Gkouridis Lab before joining the Protein Engineering and Evolution Unit of Prof. Laurino at OIST in July 2022.

I have a massive interest in protein evolution, specifically in how protein could acquire/delete modular structural elements to evolve distinct functions. Such may lead us on understanding why nature performs addition/deletion besides mutation during evolution. For that, we need to uncover the relationship between the structure, dynamics, energetics, and functions of the protein. In my previous study, I tested such a concept using solute binding proteins (SBPs). With Prof. Laurino, I would like to explore if such is also applicable to enzymes! I will mainly work on modular enzymes and see how similar cores can adapt to various modular elements during evolution. Besides, I am also interested in how life could emerge, and adapt from so simple a beginning. Personally, I truly hope that understanding the origin of life would help me to deepen my understanding of the meaning of life.

I grew up in an artistic home. Now I’m the token scientist in my family. I see science as a very creative process, and I enjoy it most when there is room to step back or sideways, whenever necessary. My doctoral work at UBC Vancouver focused on social interactions between microorganisms. Now at the Laurino unit, we’re working on figuring out the consequences of the strange fact that natural selection seems to be able to select for very weak and transient interactions. I regard evolutionary theory and population genetics as my home base and I want to honor that tradition in my work.

My name is Petr, and I am from the Czech Republic. I earned my master’s degree in molecular biology at Charles University in Prague, focused on applied virology. I then joined the Laboratory of Structural Biology at the IOCB in Prague under the supervision of Dr. Evzen Boura, where I continued my studies as a PhD student. My doctoral research primarily focused on the structural characterization of essential methyltransferases derived from various pathogens, as well as using such structural knowledge for novel drug design. In 2026, I joined the Protein Evolution and Engineering Unit led by Prof. Paola Laurino at OIST in Okinawa as a postdoctoral researcher. Here, I investigate enzymes capable of degrading highly stable short-chain fluorocarbon compounds.

I am from the Czech Republic, where I completed my undergraduate studies in biochemistry and my PhD in physical chemistry at Charles University (Prague) under the supervision of prof. Tomas Obsil. My PhD work focused on explaining the mechanism of regulation of signaling proteins using the integrative structural biology approach. I joined the Laurino group in May 2024 to broaden my knowledge and skills in new areas while working in a diverse and stimulating environment.

I grew up in Germany and studied Biology at the University of Münster. I did my PhD in the group of Erich Bornberg-Bauer on the de novo evolution of proteins using experimental as well as computational methods. During my PhD I spent several months at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic to carry out experiments as part of a collaboration with Klara Hlouchova.I joined the Laurino group at OIST in May 2025 and am looking forward to working on my new topic exploring the errors in protein translation.
 

I'm Uechi. I joined in Apr. 2019. I was born in Okinawa and got a Ph.D. at the University of the Ryukyus.  I want to spread the beauty of Okinawa and want to be a bridge with younger generation.

I graduated from Durham University (in the UK) with a Joint Honours degree in Biology and Chemistry. My background is in organic chemistry and biochemistry, and I have a keen interest in the sophisticated chemistry carried out by enzymes. During my masters, I used the nickel-responsive regulator (NikR) as a model protein to probe the mechanisms by which proteins are loaded with their cognate metal(s). I joined the Protein Engineering and Evolution Unit so that I may investigate fascinating new topics related to proteins. Whilst carrying out my rotation in this unit, I hope to develop new skills and techniques, and learn a lot from the other members!

I was born in Düsseldorf, Germany but spent most of my childhood in Belgium, after which I completed my bachelors and Masters degree at Imperial College London. It was there that I studied cellular biology and developed a real passion for science. During my undergraduate studies I was also able to complete an internship in Mishima, Shizuoka which sparked my interest in potentially returning to Japan for my PhD studies. 

Originally, I had joined the Laurino Lab as my out of field rotation, but I quickly fell in love with my project. As someone who really loves exploring the newer areas of science, this lab allows me to use cutting edge techniques to pursue questions at the forefront of the field, while working on becoming a better scientist!

I was born in Okinawa but grew up mostly outside of Japan - in Germany and in the United States. I graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor's in Biology. During my undergraduate studies, I developed a growing interest in proteins, particularly protein interactions and their associated mechanisms. 

Having roots in Okinawa, starting my PhD studies at OIST has not only allowed me to pursue a graduate education but also has provided me an opportunity to reconnect with my Okinawan family. I joined the Protein Engineering and Evolution Unit from May 2022 as a rotation student. I am looking forward to gaining new skills and exploring the world of proteins during my rotation.

In 2024, I graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology with a bachelor's degree in Biotechnology. During my undergraduate studies, I worked on the biochemistry of photoactivatable fluorescent proteins. My primary scientific interest is protein biochemistry, and I am also fascinated by molecular evolution and the origins of life.
I am very excited about the opportunity to work in the Protein Engineering and Evolution Unit under the guidance of experts in the field who provide mentorship and support.

I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia, and completed my undergraduate studies at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, specializing in computational structural biology. My research mainly focused on molecular dynamics simulations of membrane proteins and their ligands. I enjoy applying programming to biological problems and see a lot of potential in this area.
In January 2025, I joined the Protein Engineering and Evolution Unit as a rotation student to pick up new skills in evolutionary bioinformatics and large-scale sequence analysis. A year later, I joined the unit as a PhD student in computational biology, continuing to broaden my expertise and hopefully discovering something exciting along the way.
 

My name is Monte, I'm from Malaysia and I recently graduated with a master's in chemistry from the University of Oxford. Throughout my studies, I grew deeply interested in the chemistry of proteins and their structures. I hope to use my time in the Laurino unit to expand existing knowledge in a fun and dynamic environment. 

I was born in Shizuoka and spent most of my life in Tokyo, Japan. I got my bachelor’s degree in chemistry and my master’s degree in biochemistry from Ochanomizu University in Tokyo. Before joining OIST in January 2026, I worked at a pharmaceutical company for nine months, but I decided to pursue a Ph.D. to further explore and deepen my scientific interests. My research interests focus on protein structure-function relationships and evolution. During my rotation, I will establish an activity assay for my target enzyme to serve as a basis for exploring the structural and functional transition within the lysozyme-like fold superfamily. I am excited about this project and look forward to learning new techniques and gaining new knowledge.

I am from Latacunga, Ecuador, a city nestled in the Andes where I grew up with my large and loving family, near one of the world's highest active volcanoes. I studied Biology at Yachay Tech University. Before joining OIST, I spent a few years working on various projects in Chile. One of them focused on the evolutionary and functional analysis of the disordered region of an oncoprotein that influences the formation of biomolecular condensates among vertebrates. This experience drew me to rotate in Protein Engineering and Evolution Unit. During my rotation, I will be studying enzyme kinetics and molecular interactions in heterogeneous condensates. My research interests are diverse, ranging from evolutionary biology and structural biology to the study of memory and behavior.

I grew up in Germany and am currently studying Biosciences at the University of Münster. I am very enthusiastic about synthetic biology, outer space, and art. For my Bachelor’s thesis, I focused on the role of specific acetyltransferases in the regulation of RuBisCO. From 2022 to 2025 I was passionately involved in the annual iGEM competition. This was a wonderful experience every year, teaching me a great deal about scientific research and teamwork. These projects also shaped my interest in protein engineering, bioinformatics and interdisciplinary approaches to biological questions. I am excited to have the opportunity to join Paola Laurino’s group for my Master’s thesis. I am looking forward to working on translational errors and their effect on evolutionary trajectories.

I was born in Sydney, Australia and completed an undergraduate degree in chemistry (PhB (Sci) Hons) and PhD degree in protein biochemistry (2013-2016) at the Australian National University in Canberra. Protein evolution has been a longstanding interest for me, in particular, understanding how complex and functionally diverse proteins evolve through a simple process of mutation and selection, and how we can use this knowledge practically for protein engineering purposes.

During my PhD research in Prof. Colin Jackson's group, I studied the evolution of new protein functions in the solute-binding protein superfamily using ancestral protein reconstruction, a technique that allows extinct proteins to be recreated so that their evolutionary history can be studied in the lab. I then worked in a research role at Affinity Bio (Melbourne, Australia, 2017-2019), where I contributed to the development of antibodies against challenging targets for use in cancer immunotherapy. I joined the Protein Engineering and Evolution Unit at OIST in January 2020 to study how cellular tRNA modifications affect the outcome of protein evolution by controlling the error rate of protein synthesis. I'm also interested in developing new methods for functional annotation of solute-binding proteins for use in biosensor applications.

*Ben is currently a lecturer at University of Western Australia.