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Scientific Seminars

Below is a list of upcoming seminars at the LMB aimed at a general scientific audience and open to individuals throughout Cambridge. If you are not at the LMB and wish to attend a seminar, please contact the seminar secretary, unless the seminar is held online and joining information is included in the seminar information below. The LMB hosts ‘The LMB Seminar Series’, where 1-2 leading scientists per month are invited to speak throughout the year. Four of these lectures are named in honour of LMB Nobel Laureates Max Perutz, Francis Crick, César Milstein and John Kendrew, given by eminent scientists from around the world. The LMB Seminar talks and LMB Named Seminar talks are advertised widely throughout the local area and are open to all.

A full list of LMB Named Lectures to date can be found here. Details of other local seminars can be found here

  • Biophysical Techniques Lecture Series 2023: Instrument and Sample Optimisation for Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS)

    Speaker: Pier Andrée Penttilä
    Host:
    Date: 30/05/2023 at 9:30am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB.

  • Nanometer-resolution long-term tracking of single cargos reveals dynein motor mechanisms

    Speaker: Steven Chu, University of Stanford
    Host: Andrew Carter
    Date: 31/05/2023 at 10:30am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB.

  • Biophysical Techniques Lecture Series 2023: Analytical Ultracentrifugation

    Speaker: Stephen McLaughlin
    Host:
    Date: 01/06/2023 at 9:30am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB.

  • Mechanical brain: The force of dendritic spine synapses for memory and cognition

    Speaker: Professor Haruo Kasai, University of Tokyo
    Host: Ingo Greger
    Date: 02/06/2023 at 2:00pm in the Sanger Seminar Room, Level 3, LMB.

    Further information

    We have used two-photon glutamate uncaging in vitro and in vivo to study the functions of dendritic spines in the hippocampus, cortex, and striatum. We have found the structure-function relationship, long-term structural plasticity, and time-sensitive modulation of this process by dopamine. We recently found that this spine enlargement pushes the presynaptic terminal and facilitates the presynaptic functions with muscle-like force: mechanical synaptic transmission. Our findings suggest that the brain is mechanical and uses force to leave structural traces for both short-term and long-term memory for cognitive functions.

    References:

    1. Kasai, H., Ucar, H., Morimoto, Y., Eto, F. & Okazaki, H. Mechanical transmission at spine synapses: Short-term potentiation and working memory. Curr Opin Neurobiol 80, doi:10.1016/j.conb.2023.102706 (2023).

    2. Ucar, H., Watanabe, S., Noguchi, J., Morimoto, Y., Iino, Y., Yagishita, S., Takahashi, N. & Kasai, H. Mechanical actions of dendritic-spine enlargement on presynaptic exocytosis. Nature 600, 686-689, doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04125-7 (2021).

    3. Iino, Y., Sawada, T., Yamaguchi, K., Tajiri, M., Ishii, S., Kasai, H. & Yagishita, S. Dopamine D2 receptors in discrimination learning and spine enlargement. Nature 579, 555-560, doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2115-1 (2020).

  • Biophysical Techniques Lecture Series 2023: Curve Fitting, Errors and Analysis of Binding Data

    Speaker: Stephen McLaughlin
    Host:
    Date: 08/06/2023 at 9:30am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB.

  • LMB Seminar for non-scientists - Where’s Wally? How does the immune system identify cancer cells?

    Speaker: Patrycja Kozik
    Host: Alison Gillingham
    Date: 09/06/2023 at 12:00pm in the Webinar.

    Further information

    Watch online: https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/94955492443?pwd=cExIUWpWSGtRcEU1aElTR0hXU1czZz09

    Our goal is to understand how the immune system eliminates cancer cells. We focus on dendritic cells, key orchestrators of the immune responses. In this talk, I will discuss our attempts to uncover how dendritic cells detect tumours and how they drive tumour-specific T lymphocytes to differentiate into powerful effectors that can kill unwanted cells


  • LMB Seminar: Blending Proteins: Democratising Access to Beautiful Molecular Landscapes

    Speaker: Brady Johnston
    Host: Shraddha Nayak
    Date: 12/06/2023 at 11:00am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB and Webinar.

    Further information

    Zoom link - https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/93844733292?pwd=RGczZ0szUnVxVUJOb0U5c1AvbWdhdz09

    Brady (https://bradyajohnston.github.io/) is a structural biologist/biophysicist and a postdoctoral fellow from the University of Western Australia. We mostly know him as a Twitter celeb (https://twitter.com/bradyajohnston) in the molecular visualisation community. He is essentially making it easy for scientists/anyone to visualise their structural biology data using Blender (open-source 3D modelling program) via his addon molecular nodes (https://bradyajohnston.github.io/molecular-nodes.html).

    Abstract:
    Structural biology is filled with endlessly captivating and complex protein structures. While this has traditionally been the realm of dedicated molecular graphics software such as PyMol, ChimeraX and VMD, graphical fidelity is not the focus of these programs which limits the potential for visualising protein structures in all their glory.

    I will be presenting my journey through molecular visualisation, in a quest to improve not only graphical quality of my experimental data, but also improve the ability of these visualisations to communicate complex biological topics. This culminated in the creation of the add-on Molecular Nodes for the industry-leading free and open-source 3D modelling program Blender. This has led to a revolution in the ability of structural biologists all over the world to create compelling visualisations and complex animations, grounded in the underlying scientific data that we generate

  • Poly(A) methylation increases mRNA stability

    Speaker: Luisa Miranda Figueiredo (Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Lisbon)
    Host: Lori Passmore
    Date: 12/06/2023 at 3:00pm in the Klug Seminar Room, Level 2, LMB.

    Further information

    Abstract-

    In the last decade, RNA modifications have been identified as key players in regulation of gene expression. By studying an ancient organism (Trypanosoma brucei), my lab discovered that poly(A) tails can be methylated and modulate messenger RNA stability (Viegas I. et al., Nature, 2022). We will present these results and discuss future perspectives

  • Biophysical Techniques Lecture Series 2023: Bioinformatics

    Speaker: Tim Stevens
    Host:
    Date: 13/06/2023 at 9:30am in the Sanger Seminar Room, Level 3, LMB.

  • Biophysical Techniques Lecture Series 2023: Alphafold2 at the LMB – Use and Applications

    Speaker: Sami Chaaban
    Host:
    Date: 15/06/2023 at 9:30am in the Sanger Seminar Room, Level 3, LMB.

  • LMB Seminar: What do we know about (your) antibodies? Novel insights from novel techniques in mass spectrometry

    Speaker: Albert Heck, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
    Host: David Barford
    Date: 19/06/2023 at 11:00am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB and Webinar.

    Further information

    Zoom link: https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/92910980652?pwd=U2V6MGFOOU9kbmRnckNaU05HaXl4QT09

    1 Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research and Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands.
    2 Netherlands Proteomics Centre, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands.

    In our body we produce every day huge amounts of antibodies, of which many end up in circulation. It has been estimated that humans can make about 1015 distinct antibody clones, all exhibiting a slightly different sequence. This huge number has so far refrained many from charting whole serum antibody, or immunoglobulin (Ig), repertoires. We recently developed an LC-MS based antibody repertoire profiling method for studying immunoglobulins in a quantitative manner. We analyzed a variety of samples from both healthy as well as diseased donors and made some paradigm-shifting observations. Firstly, circulating Ig repertoires are much simpler than anticipated, dominated by a few hundred clones. Second, the clonal repertoires are entirely unique for each donor, both for IgG1 and IgA1 we found virtually no overlap between individuals. Conversely, longitudinal samples from the same (healthy) donor showed a far-reaching overlap even when samples were taken months apart. In the repertoires of severely ill patients, more plasticity was observed. Charting the Ig repertoires in diseased donors allowed the selection of Ig clones of interest, i.e., those emerging after the onset of disease. We demonstrate that these latter serum clones can be fully de novo sequenced by combining top-down and bottom-up analysis and iterative software algorithms to connect these layers of data. In this manner antigen-directed antibodies could be identified and developed into novel therapeutics.

    All (sub)classes of immunoglobulins have unique structural features. In our work we also investigate the structures of IgA1 and IgM, and reveal that they are not always as described in text-books. I will present work through which we redefine the molecular composition of circulatory IgM. Using single-particle charge-detection mass spectrometry, mass photometry, proteomics, and immunochemical assays, we reveal that circulatory IgM is (re)defined by the universal presence of an additional protein component. We study the covalent attachment of this protein and evaluate its effect on the binding of IgM to several receptors. Lastly, our data reveal the distinctiveness of the circulatory and secretory IgM

  • Hyperactive Protein Responses and Functional Residuomics of Cilia

    Speaker: Prof. Guangshuo Ou, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University
    Host: Andrew Carter
    Date: 19/06/2023 at 2:00pm in the Klug Seminar Room, Level 2, LMB.

    Further information

    Despite the wealth of information regarding loss-of-function proteins in diseases, the cellular regulation of a protein at its hyperactive conformation is much less understood. Here, I address how a cell governs hyperactive ciliary proteins. We have recently shown that RNA editing restricts hyperactive ciliary kinases by editing the kinase message RNAs, thereby reducing kinase production (Li et al., Science, 2021). We find that sensory neurons dump an intraflagellar transport (IFT) kinesin at its de-repressed conformation into the surrounding glia for degradation. Through genetic suppressor screens and single-molecule assays, we provide evidence that the kinesin conformation and activity are responsible for its fate. These results show that a living cell responds to hyperactive proteins through multiple unexpected pathways and that changing distinct residues trigger different cellular responses. Thus, we combine chemical mutagenesis and bioinformatics to systematically define functional residues essential for ciliary structure and function.

  • Biophysical Techniques Lecture Series 2023: Proteomics at the LMB

    Speaker: Catarina Franco
    Host:
    Date: 20/06/2023 at 9:30am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB.

  • Biophysical Techniques Lecture Series 2023: Biological Mass Spectrometry 2

    Speaker: To Be Confirmed
    Host:
    Date: 22/06/2023 at 9:30am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB.

  • LMB CamAWiSE Event: What Next For Your Career in Science?

    Speaker: Anne Cooke, previously Chief Executive, British Neuroscience Association; Stephanie Pilkington, Consultant Patent Attorney at Potter Clarkson LLP and Trustee Director at The Earlham Institute; Hayley Sharpe, Group Leader, The Babraham Institute
    Host: Louise Atkin
    Date: 23/06/2023 at 12:00pm in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB.

    Further information

    Register to attend here - https://lmb_camawise_event.eventbrite.co.uk/

    Hear career stories from three LMB alumnae who have gone on to do a variety of roles.

    Lunch and networking after the talks

    Are you wondering how best to utilise your scientific skills?

    Are you planning your next step in academia or considering pursuing a career away from the bench?

    Would you like more information about different scientific careers from a diverse range of speakers?

    Then join us to hear from three inspirational speakers who have gone on to do a variety of roles using their scientific knowledge, skills and expertise, the common thread being they have all spent time at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. We welcome them back to hear about their career paths, and to be inspired by what they have achieved.

    This event last took place in 2019 so we are looking forward to inviting everyone back to the LMB once again!

    Speakers:

    Anne Cooke, previously Chief Executive, British Neuroscience Association

    Anne Cooke completed a PhD in Leon Lagnado's group looking at vesicle cycling in presynaptic nerve terminals. After a short postdoc, she took up a position at the University of Bristol to set up ‘Bristol Neuroscience’, the first of the ‘city neuroscience’ schemes across the UK. Her career has continued largely in research management or science administration. These include working for the Bristol Heart Institute and the British Anaesthetic and Respiratory Equipment Manufacturers' Association and, for the last 7.5 years, as Chief Executive of the British Neuroscience Association. However, by the time she visits the LMB in June, she will have made a complete career change! Anne will be Head of Learning and Development in an events company, with responsibility for creating a new apprenticeship scheme.

    Stephanie Pilkington, Consultant Patent Attorney at Potter Clarkson LLP and Trustee Director at The Earlham Institute

    Stephanie Pilkington completed her PhD in 1991 sequencing subunits of mitochondrial Complex I with John Walker. She was a postdoc in the same lab before spending three years in the pharmaceutical industry and then training as a patent attorney at Potter Clarkson LLP. Stephanie's patent attorney work has spanned a range of biotech and biomedical technologies, from early-stage to established products and litigation. She became the first female (and first part-time) Board member at Potter Clarkson LLP and also contributed to the policy work of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) through its Life Sciences Committee. Stephanie is a Trustee Director of The Earlham Institute on the Norwich Research Park, bringing experience of knowledge exchange and commercialisation to the role.

    Hayley Sharpe, Group Leader, The Babraham Institute

    Hayley Sharpe was a PhD student in Sean Munro’s lab from 2006-2010. She was a postdoc in the same lab for a short time before moving to Fred de Sauvage’s lab at Genentech. In 2016, Hayley set up her own lab at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research as a Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale fellow and in 2019, she joined the Babraham Institute as a tenure track Group Leader working to understand the functions of the protein tyrosine phosphatases. She was selected to join the EMBO Young Investigator Programme and was awarded a Lister Research Prize Fellowship. Hayley is now a tenured group leader at the Babraham Institute.

  • To Build a Biofilm

    Speaker: George A. O'Toole, Ph.D. (he/him/his), Elmer R. Pfefferkorn, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
    Host: Tanmay Bharat
    Date: 26/06/2023 at 10:00am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB.

    Further information

    Biofilms are surface-attached microbial communities. These communities form in a wide variety of clinical, industrial and natural environments. The Gram-negative gamma-proteobacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens, a plant and soil colonizer, attaches to a surface through the cell-surface localization of the large (~500 kDA) type 1-secreted RTX adhesin LapA (and related adhesins). The proteins involved in the regulation of cell-surface localization and outer membrane anchoring of LapA-like adhesins are conserved across 1000+ bacterial genera, including important pathogens and environmental microbes. Cell-surface localization of these adhesins are controlled by cytoplasmic cyclic di-GMP-levels via an inside-out signaling mechanism. In my seminar I will discuss the mechanisms of adhesin localization and function for P. fluorescens. I will also show recent data on our genetic, biochemical and structural analysis of a homologous Lap system from a sulfate-reducing bacterium (SRB). We have reconstituted the SRB Lap system in P. fluorescens, providing a platform for the detailed analysis of this adhesin system.

  • LMB Seminar: Title TBC

    Speaker: Stephen Bell
    Host: Joe Yeeles
    Date: 03/07/2023 at 11:00am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB and Webinar.

    Further information

    Zoom link - https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/93130142776?pwd=dEhGKzFGTkw2RGI1enhVSGg0Vm1VZz09

  • LMB Seminar: Title TBC

    Speaker: Virginia Lee
    Host: Ben Ryskeldi-Falcon
    Date: 06/07/2023 at 10:30am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB and Webinar.

    Further information

    Zoom link - https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/98581189338?pwd=U2NxTEo5eTZRUnVLVktWM2huN1R1QT09

  • LMB Seminar: Title TBC

    Speaker: Simon Newstead
    Host: Kelly Nguyen & Chris Russo
    Date: 10/07/2023 at 11:00am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB and Webinar.

    Further information

    Zoom link - https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/94311710455?pwd=N05mNDk4ZXlDZWdUTzVnaHJTQzRWQT09

  • LMB Seminar: Title TBC

    Speaker: Ron Vale
    Host: Buzz Baum
    Date: 17/07/2023 at 4:00pm in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB and Webinar.

    Further information

    Zoom link - https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/96873425169?pwd=b0lIVEhaSUVVcTNEc21SR21EWjVsUT09

  • LMB Seminar: Title TBC

    Speaker: Mikhail Shapiro
    Host: Phil Holliger
    Date: 12/09/2023 at 11:00am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB and Webinar.

    Further information

    Zoom link - https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/94069360553?pwd=djJlT09ZOTlENzNJVzRYVnp6WWVZQT09

  • LMB Seminar for non-scientists - TBC

    Speaker: Tanmay Bharat
    Host: Alison Gillingham
    Date: 22/09/2023 at 12:00pm in the Webinar.

    Further information

    Watch online: https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/93731339253?pwd=SEdHeXg2QlBuSXRORVdtR3BzWlFNUT09


  • Next Generation Biophysics Symposium 2023

    Speaker: Various
    Host: Chris Johnson - LMB, Stephen McLaughlin - LMB
    Date: 27/09/2023 at 9:00am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB and Webinar.

    Further information

    https://www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/sites/nextgen/#intro

  • LMB Seminar: Title TBC

    Speaker: Hiroaki Suga
    Host: Phil Holliger
    Date: 02/10/2023 at 11:00am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB and Webinar.

    Further information

    Zoom link - https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/94524239870?pwd=RjN1ZXhCZzNaaE1jWkdCcFgwbUFpZz09

  • LMB Seminar: Title TBC

    Speaker: Matthieu Piel
    Host: Madeline Lancaster & Emmanuel Derivery
    Date: 16/10/2023 at 11:00am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB and Webinar.

    Further information

    Zoom link:

  • Kendrew Lecture 2023: Title TBC

    Speaker: Wolfgang Baumeister
    Host: Kelly Nguyen & Chris Russo
    Date: 30/10/2023 at 11:00am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB and Webinar.

    Further information

    Zoom link - https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/98196424925?pwd=a0V2Z1FOYU5UZFgreHp1ckQ4Z2UyUT09

  • LMB Seminar: Title TBC

    Speaker: Jeff Kelly
    Host: Ben Ryskeldi-Falcon
    Date: 07/11/2023 at 11:00am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB and Webinar.

    Further information

    Zoom link - https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/94698100541?pwd=L0RIZUcvY0dvYjhaRW5VU0pXNThKUT09

  • Perutz Lecture 2023: Title TBC

    Speaker: Paola Picotti
    Host: Ben Ryskeldi-Falcon
    Date: 20/11/2023 at 11:00am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB and Webinar.

    Further information

    Zoom link - https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/96403558268?pwd=YTBCSjlndzJxVms0ZytFczZDd3RtZz09

  • LMB Seminar: Title TBC

    Speaker: Mark Howarth
    Host: Kelly Nguyen & Chris Russo
    Date: 04/12/2023 at 11:00am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB and Webinar.

    Further information

    Zoom link - https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/95625236862?pwd=NGttT1d6ay9SWFRqUHMvRWNPdDhyZz09

  • LMB Seminar: Title TBC

    Speaker: Maria Grazia Spillantini
    Host: Anne Bertolotti
    Date: 11/12/2023 at 11:00am in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre, LMB and Webinar.

    Further information

    Zoom link - https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/92958233734?pwd=eDI1dkNlTFNQc2lxUVV4S2JHRlFmZz09