Welcome to two summer students Suki Fogg (University of Oxford) and Mask Federovskyy (Harvard University)!
Viva time at the University of Birmingham with Christian Speck and Divyasree Poovathumkadavil from the Gambus lab - congratulation Divya on your thesis and defence!
An enjoyable one-day lab trip to Cambridge for the annual GSN meeting - excellent talks and opportunities to catch-up.
Congratulations to Matt on successfully passing his viva! Matt initiated our cell biology work on the ZUP1 DUB, establishing microscopy pipelines and performing our first CRISPR-Cas9 screen. He made a huge impact during his time in the lab and will be missed - good luck in your future Matt!
A huge 'thank you' to his examiners: Nick Lakin (University of Oxford) and Jo Morris (University of Birmingham).
Welcome to four new starters: Leslye (postdoctoral researcher), Alex (DPhil candidate), Xianzhen (DPhil candidate), and Madeline (MBiochem Part II).
After four productive years, Ben is moving on the University of Manchester, and leaves the lab on a high (see post below). The first postdoctoral researcher to join the lab, Ben made a huge contribution to the lab, the Department, and wider Oxford community - we wish him the very best for the future, he will be missed.
Ben and Ian travelled to Edinburgh to present some of the research from the lab with a poster and talk, respectively. Ben also won the Biochemical Society poster prize - congratulations Ben! An inspiring few days in a wonderful city.
The lab was awarded the LEAF Gold award, reflecting the steps we've taken to make our science more sustainable. This has been a multi-year team effort to get to this point, driven by Ben in the lab, so we're delighted with the award, but we can always do more!
https://sustainability.admin.ox.ac.uk/leaf-award-winners#collapse4268311
Congratulations to Joel for passing his viva! Some of the findings from his thesis should soon be published, but in the meantime he will take a well deserved break travelling, before his next career step - enjoy it Joel!
A huge thank you also to his examiners: Fumiko Esashi (University of Oxford) and Eva Petermann (University of Birmingham).
In a great team effort, driven by Ben, we found that the ZUP1 deubiquitinase interacts with the single-stranded DNA binding protein RPA complex, a protein complex involved in multiple DNA repair pathways - the first DUB to interact directly with RPA. Importantly, this interaction stimulates the DUB activity of ZUP1, indicating that the interaction is integral for ZUP1 function during DNA repair. The pre-print is on BioRxiv:
Huge congratulations to Kay for passing her viva! Despite starting her DPhil in a pandemic, Kay managed to move our understanding of ZUP1 function forward significantly over the last few years. She made a great mark during her time in the lab and we wish her the very best in her future career in industry!
A huge thank you to her examiners: Fumiko Esashi (University of Oxford) and Aga Gambus (University of Birmingham).
Welcome to our two new MBiochem Part II students, Harriet Atherton and Ben Vernall!
As one of the original members of the lab, Martin made a huge contribution to our efforts to understand the cellular functions and regulation of ZUP1, using cellular biochemistry and proteomic approaches. His findings have made significant contributions to our forthcoming papers and though we are sorry to see him get recruited to industry, we wish him all the best for the future!
Ben travelled by train to Würzburg, Germany for the 'Understanding Ubiquitylation' Symposium to present a poster of his research.
In addition, Martin travelled to Vienna, Austria for the equally excellent 'Ubiquitin & Friends' Symposium to present a poster of his research.
We thank the University of Oxford's Lockey Fund for their financial support, which enabled Ben and Martin to present their research and obtain valuable feedback.
On the back of the Biochemical Society webinar chaired by Ben last November (“Environmental Sustainability in Biomedical Laboratories” recording available here), a related Feature Article is now freely available in The Biochemist.
Congratulations to Ben and Martin for their review article! We analyse the tools used to understand ubiquitin signaling in DNA repair. Read it here:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcell.2021.760226/full
Ben, Martin, and Ian travel to Denmark for the Copenhagen Bioscience Conference - a wonderful few days of talks, posters, catching-up, and making new friends!
With the global concern of climate change, research laboratories across industry and academia have been introducing measures to try to reduce their environmental impact and reduce the amount of waste generated.
In 2020, Ben was part of the Department of Biochemistry Sustainability team to achieve the Green Impact Gold Award for the department. In 2021, Ben entered the lab to take part in the LEAF award scheme overseen by UCL. Using an electronic lab book and lab management software called LabGuru, and using the departmental media kitchen and glass wash providing a more cost- and energy-efficient method for preparing media and solutions, means most of the prescribed activities for the bronze and silver award could be accounted for. Fridges and freezers are recently purchased so are as energy efficient as feasible, and stickers and signage mean waste is disposed of through the correct streams and equipment is switched off when not in use. After a brief audit and discussion with the Carvalho lab in the Dunn School, we were awarded the LEAF Silver Award!
To get some more information about the LEAF scheme and to hear from other labs trying to improve their sustainability, tune into the Biochemical Society webinar on Wednesday 24th November 2021, 2-3pm (a recording will be available after the event here). For a more personal account about trying to become more environmentally sustainable both at home and at work, check out this blog from Ben from July 2020. More information about Sustainable laboratories can also be found via the University of Oxford Sustainability Team.
On Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th October, the Department of Biochemistry hosted two different stalls at the Explorazone as part of IF Oxford 2021 at the Oxford Town Hall. We had lots of visitors and willing participants to explore crystallography and the causes of B.O. on the Saturday, and lots of DNA origami and sequence bracelet making on the Sunday while learning about the genetic code and DNA repair.
Led by Ben and expertly helped by volunteers from across the Department, the steady stream of visitors got the chance to hear from researchers about what DNA is and how it is protected from damage on a daily basis.