Dr Gabriella Collu

RESEARCH:

I am a biochemist and a structural biologist, I like to visualize proteins in near-to-native conditions using cryo-electron microscopy to reveal important structural details that help to answer crucial biological questions. In particular, I am enthusiastic about early drug discovery projects where the structural contribution plays an important role in the subsequent steps of drug development. 

Currently, I joined the Protein Facility as support scientist. While supporting the entire pipeline offered by the facility, I aim to further develop the EM4me pipeline, from gene to structure.

CURRICULUM VITAE:

I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Biology in 2013 and my master’s degree in Cell and Molecular Biology in 2015 at the University of Cagliari, Italy. In 2016, I joined the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt, Germany for a research stay in the Laboratory of Membrane Biology headed by Prof. Dr. Hartmut Michel.

In 2018, I began my PhD studies at ETH Zurich & Paul Scherrer Institut, under the supervision of Dr. Roger Benoit and Prof. Gebhard Schertler. During this time, focusing on the development of protein engineering strategies for structural studies, particularly single-particle cryo-EM of GPCRs. In July 2021 I obtained my doctoral degree at ETH Zurich.

In September 2021, I joined the LUMC as Swiss National Foundation Fellow in the Laboratory of Bionanopatterning, headed by Dr. Thomas Sharp and I used  DNA nanotechnology and cryo electron tomography to determine the structure-function relationship of how IgM antibodies nanopatterns activate C1 complex. As a Swiss National Foundation Fellow, I joined the LUMC in September 2021 in Dr. Thomas Sharp’s lab, using DNA nanotechnology and cryo-ET to study IgM antibodies’ activation of the C1 complex.

In November 2023, I joined Prof. Meindert Lamers’ DNA Replication & Repair lab to investigate RNA polymerase complex structure in M. avium for the RespiriNTM consortium. I also lead the EM4me pipeline, which provides biochemical and biophysical characterization of proteins and single-particle cryo-EM analysis, from grid preparation to model building.