{"id":21,"date":"2020-04-15T12:48:53","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T11:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/falcon\/?page_id=21"},"modified":"2026-01-05T17:05:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T17:05:24","slug":"people","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/falcon\/people\/","title":{"rendered":"People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Benjamin Ryskeldi-Falcon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Group leader<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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 2019, Benjamin has led a research group at the LMB, with a focus on the molecular mechanisms of pathological protein assembly in motor neuron diseases (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and dementias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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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\u2019s Research UK Rising Star Award, the Breuer Foundation Alzheimer\u2019s Research Award, the SCOR Young European Researcher Prize, the Biochemical Society Colworth Medal and the Vallee Scholar Award.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Renren (Heidy) Chen<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Postdoctoral research fellow<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Heidy 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.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Ashling Giblin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Postdoctoral research fellow<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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 FTD 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. In 2025, Ashling became a Junior Research Fellow at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fred Hawkings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Postdoctoral research fellow<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Fred obtained his BSc in Molecular Biology from the University of Sheffield. He undertook a third year project in the Molecular Photosynthesis group, and stayed on under a joint PhD studentship from the University of Sheffield and Diamond Light Source. During his PhD, divided between the University lab and the Electron Bio-Imaging Centre (eBIC), he undertook structural analyses of various regulatory electron transport systems in phototrophic bacteria, algae and plants. He joined the group in March 2025 on an MRC Career Development Fellowship.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Suman Mishra<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Postdoctoral research fellow<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Suman obtained his BTech from DY Patil University, Navi Mumbai. He completed his PhD in Molecular Biophysics with Somnath Dutta at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, during which he worked on understanding membrane rupture mechanisms of bacterial pore-forming toxins using single-particle cryo-EM. Exposure to population genetics, structural studies and toxin activity evoked an interest in working on amyloidoses, to better understand these proteinopathies. Suman joined the group in June 2025 on an MRC Career Development Fellowship.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Stephan Tetter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Postdoctoral research fellow<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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 and in 2024 he took up an MRC Investigator Scientist position within the group. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Nikhil Varghese<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Postdoctoral research fellow<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Mark Walker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

PhD student<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mark obtained his BSc in Neuroscience from King’s College London, where he worked with Younbok Lee on the relationship between RNA-binding proteins and expanded C9orf72 dipeptide repeats in ALS\/FTD. During a research placement with Laura Manuelidis at Yale School of Medicine, he studied the impact of cellular prion protein dynamics on the pathogenesis of prion diseases. He completed his MSc in Clinical Neuroscience at University College London, where he worked on the cytoplasmic TDP-43 mislocalisation in ALS\/FTD in the lab of Pietro Fratta at the Francis Crick Institute. He joined the group as a PhD student in October 2025 on an MRC Research Studentship Award. Mark is a member of Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Alumni<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Diana<\/figure>
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Diana Arseni<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Postdoctoral research fellow 2020-2024<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Current position: Group Leader, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Diana obtained her MSci in Biomedicine from the University of Lancaster, where she worked with David Allsop on peptide-based inhibition of amyloid-\u03b2 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.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Tina<\/figure>
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Tiana Behr<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

PhD student 2019-2024<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Current position: Postdoctoral research fellow, EMBL Heidelberg<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"people","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/falcon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/falcon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/falcon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/falcon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/falcon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":60,"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/falcon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":682,"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/falcon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21\/revisions\/682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/falcon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/falcon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}