Members

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 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.

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.

I completed my PhD in protein biochemistry at the Australian National University, where I explored the limits of NMR for detecting tight ligand binding with the help of site-specifically installed trimethylsilyl groups. I joined the Laurino group in September 2025.

I was born and raised in the beautiful city of Dresden, Germany, where I finished my studies in process engineering with the focus on bioprocesses. Afterwards, I was fortunate enough to follow a PhD program in metabolic and genetic engineering in the KU Leuven, Belgium. After obtaining my PhD in bioengineering in 2023 I moved to the wonderful island of Okinawa to pursuit a Postdoc with Paola Laurino.

In the centre of my research interest is the applicability of science and to make the jump from fundamental science to real life application. Within my PhD I worked extensively on producing fine chemicals using microbes and within the project in Okinawa we focus on the reverse: to degrade toxic material using microbes, namely PFAS. Together with Prof. Laurino, we are using genetic, metabolic and evolutionary approaches to construct our microbes. Next to my passion for science I am also a runner and enjoy board games and video games.

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 Christchurch, New Zealand, but moved further north to Wellington for my studies in my late-twenties. I graduated first in my class with a Masters in Drug Discovery from the Victoria University of Wellington (Te Herenga Waka) in 2019. This ignited my interest in molecular evolution, so I took on a PhD with Prof. Wayne Patrick  at VUW (completed 2023). My doctoral research focussed on complex relationship between sequence, activity, and organismal fitness. I investigated the central metabolic enzyme, triosephosphate isomerase. I researched the ways in which enzyme activity contributes to the overall fitness of the cell, and how these two features interplay to create protein evolutionary trajectries. 
I was awarded a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship and joined the Laurino lab at OIST in 2024, excited by the group’s work asking the big questions about protein evolution. I am pleased to be working on protein viscoadaptation, examining proteins in their true native contexts within the cell. I also look forward to working towards finding and engineering minimal protein folds,  which considers the evolutionary history of proteins towards novel ends. 

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 was born and raised in Tokyo and moved to Okinawa in 2013. I obtained a bachelor's and master's degree in Agriculture at the University of the Ryukyus, where I was engaged in thermostabilizing an enzyme and in creating chimera enzymes by protein engineering (2013-2019). After internship and Gap program research at this Unit, I finally joined the Protein Engineering and Evolution Unit as a PhD student to start research focusing on how proteins acquire the function.  I am so happy to come back here to work with wonderful members and in a fascinating environment.

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.
 

I am from the United States, where I study medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. I spent a research year with the Laurino Group (2024-2025) during which I investigated the interaction between two urea cycle enzymes in Bacillus subtilis, abbreviated RocF and ArgF. I am returning to the lab for several months to continue working on this project. 

I was born in South Korea and spent the majority of my childhood on the Canadian east coast. I completed my bachelor’s degree in microbiology and immunology at the University of British Columbia and am pursuing a PhD degree at UBC under the supervision of Dr. Nobuhiko Tokuriki. My projects primarily focus on understanding ß-lactamase evolution via high throughput gene/library synthesis and screening methods. I am visiting the Laurino Unit to learn a new style of science and gain deeper insights into the protein engineering field.

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.