Benjamin Ryskeldi-Falcon
Group leader
Benjamin obtained his BSc from University College London. He completed his graduate studies with Michel Goedert at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), receiving a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Cambridge. He subsequently carried out a postdoc with Michel Goedert and Sjors Scheres at the LMB, where he helped to determine the electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of assembled tau in neurodegenerative diseases. Since October 2019, Benjamin has led a research group at the LMB, with a focus on the molecular mechanisms of pathological protein assembly in neurodegenerative diseases.
Benjamin is a Young Investigator at the European Molecular Biology Organisation and a Co-investigator at the UK Dementia Research Institute. For his research, Benjamin has been awarded the Alzheimer’s Research UK Rising Star Award, the Breuer Foundation Alzheimer’s Research Award, the SCOR Young European Researcher Prize and the Vallee Scholar Award.
Diana Arseni
Postdoctoral research fellow
Diana obtained her MSci in Biomedicine from the University of Lancaster, where she worked with David Allsop on peptide-based inhibition of amyloid-β aggregation. She completed her PhD with Chris Linington and Julia Edgar at the University of Glasgow, with a focus on the role of microglia in multiple sclerosis. During this time, she also undertook an industrial placement at AstraZeneca Neuroscience. She joined the group on the MRC Post-Doctoral Training Scheme in January 2020. In 2021, Diana became a Junior Research Fellow at Darwin College, University of Cambridge, and was awarded a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship in 2022.
Tiana Behr
PhD student
Tiana obtained her BSc from Heidelberg University. She completed her MSc in Molecular Biology with Stefan Jakobs at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, where she worked on Bax-mediated apoptosis using correlative light-electron microscopy. She joined the group as a PhD student in November 2019 on an MRC Research Studentship Award. Tiana is a member of Darwin College, University of Cambridge.
Renren (Heidy) Chen
PhD student
Renren obtained her BSc from University College London, working on pericyte adenosine receptors with David Attwell in her final year project . She completed her MSc in Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, during which she worked with Kelvin Talbot on the mechanisms of C9orf72 expansion using human iPSC-derived motor neurons, and with Armin Lak on the role of dopamine signalling in visual decision making. She joined the group as PhD student in October 2020 on a Cambridge Commonwealth, European and International Trust Postgraduate Scholarship. Heidy is a member of Queen’s College, University of Cambridge.
Ashling Giblin
Postdoctoral research fellow
Ashling obtained her BSc in Biomedical Science from the University of Galway, Ireland. She subsequently completed her PhD with Adrian Isaacs and Linda Partridge at University College London, focusing on genetic modifiers of toxicity in ALS and FTLD caused by C9orf72 expansion, using Drosophila and human iPSC-derived neuronal models. She joined the group in April 2024 on the MRC Post-Doctoral Training Scheme.
Stephan Tetter
Postdoctoral research fellow
Stephan obtained his Masters in Biotechnology from the University of Bologna. He subsequently completed his PhD with Donald Hilvert at the ETH Zurich, where he focussed on the engineering and understanding of proteins that assemble into cages using cryo-EM. He joined the group on the MRC Post-Doctoral Training Scheme in February 2021. In 2022, Stephan was awarded a Swiss National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Nikhil Varghese
Postdoctoral research fellow
Nikhil obtained his BMedSci from the University of Sydney. He completed his PhD with Margaret Sunde, also at the University of Sydney, where his research focused on the structures, interactions and applications of functional amyloids found in mammals, viruses and fungi. He joined the group on a MRC Career Development Fellowship in March 2024.