Learn more about this year’s awardees:
Alison Deyett, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA)
Alison Deyett, recent PhD graduate from the lab of Sasha Mendjan, co-developed multi-chamber cardioids – the first three-dimensional model of the human heart derived from stem cells, which mirrors the human heart’s intricate structure.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, but only a few new therapies are on the horizon. Similarly, one in every 100 babies born suffers from a congenital heart defect – and therapies are few and far between, as we know little about why they arise. What is missing in understanding both heart disease and cardiac malformations is a model comprising the major regions of the human heart. Alison and the Mendjan group at IMBA developed the first physiological organoid model that includes all the principal developing heart structures and allows researchers to study cardiac disease and development.
Laura Santini, Max Perutz Labs Vienna
Perutz alumna Laura Santini, who obtained her PhD in Martin Leeb’s lab, has been recognized with this year’s Vienna BioCenter PhD Award for her outstanding thesis on cell fate differentiation. Laura Santini is the 21st Perutz student to receive the award, following in the footsteps of her former group leader Martin Leeb.
She started her PhD in 2017 in the Leeb lab with the objective of understanding how pluripotency and differentiation of cells are regulated. Her research focused on a crucial cell state transition during early embryonic development using mouse embryonic stem cells as a model system.
Filip Nemcko, Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP)
Filip Nemcko, recent PhD graduate from the lab of Alexander Stark at the IMP, co-developed ORFtag–a new method that simplifies the study of protein functions through mass tagging and tracking across the entire genome. By harnessing a retrovirus, ORFtag inserts DNA tags directly into the genome, allowing researchers to attach small markers to proteins as they are produced. This new method enables scientists to explore protein functions in various biological contexts, such as identifying proteins that regulate gene expression.
The development of ORFtag is the result of a collaborative effort of Vienna BioCenter scientists from the IMP, the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA), and the Max Perutz Labs, and was published in the journal Nature Methods this June.
Julian Ehrmann, Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP)
Julian Ehrmann, from the lab of Tim Clausen at the IMP, worked to reveal the structure and function of BIRC6, a large enzyme crucial for regulating apoptosis–a type of programmed cell death–and for recycling cell components during autophagy. Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), he demonstrated how BIRC6 selectively targets and degrades specific proteins by “embracing” them within a central cavity. He also found that a stress-induced inhibitor, SMAC, can occupy this same cavity, effectively blocking BIRC6’s activity by preventing it from binding to its typical targets.