CURRENT MEMBERS IN THE LAB - FEBRUARY 2026
MICHAEL WAY was an undergraduate in the Biophysics Dept. King’s College, London and for his Ph.D. studied the actin binding properties of gelsolin in Alan Weeds lab in the structural studies division of the Medical Research Council, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK - for which he received the Max Perutz student prize in 1989. He remained in Alan’s lab for three years studying the actin binding properties of alpha-actinin, dystrophin and gelsolin before moving to Boston, for a second postdoc with Paul Matsudaira at the Whitehead Institute, MIT, USA. In 1995, he started his own group in the Cell Biology Programme at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany, studying how vaccinia virus hijacks the actin cytoskeleton to enhance its spread. In 2001, he returned to London to head the cell motility group in the London Research Institute, Cancer Research UK. In 2016 he moved to the Francis Crick Institute to lead the Cellular Signalling and Cytoskeletal Function Lab. Michael is an editor for the Journal of Cell Science since 2005 and was appointed its editor-in-chief in 2012. He is also on the editorial boards of Cell Host & Microbe, Cell Structure and Function (Journal of Japanese Soc. Cell Biology), Developmental Cell, Molecular Microbiology, and Small GTPases. He was elected an EMBO member in 2006, a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2015 and a fellow of the American Society of Cell Biology in 2023. Michael is an honorary Professor at University College, London as well as King’s College, London and is a Professor of Virology, Imperial College, London since 2013.
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MIROSLAV MLADENOV obtained his Pharmacology degree from the London Metropolitan University, followed by a research based Masters in protein biochemistry at Imperial College London. He then joined Prof. Angelika Gründling’s lab at the MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection, Imperial College London, where he helped establish the structure of the Staphylococcus aureus cyclic diadenylate monophosphate (c-di-AMP)-binding protein PstA. He further developed his interest in biochemistry in Dr. Anthony Roberts lab at the Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, where he contributed to the structural elucidation of intraflagellar Dynein. In Oct 2019 Miroslav joined the Way Lab as a research scientist, where he focuses on purification and biochemical analysis of Arp2/3 iso-complexes and their regulators.
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HANNAH TOMKINSON obtained her MSci degree in Biochemistry at Queen Mary University of London. She developed an interest in cell biology during a summer internship studying the regulation of vesicle trafficking in Sean Munro's lab at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge. During the final year of her degree, she continued to pursue this interest in Mark van Breugel's lab researching membrane-shaping proteins involved in cilia formation. In September 2025, Hannah joined the Way lab as a PhD student to investigate the role of Arp2/3 iso-complexes in the formation and function of invadopodia.
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ILARIA DALLA ROSA graduated with a master degree in Biology from the University of Bologna, Italy. For her PhD she studied the role of mitochondrial topoisomerase 1 on mitochondrial DNA maintenance in the group of Fritz Boege at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany. In 2010 she joined Yves Pommier’s lab at the NIH in Bethesda, USA, as postdoctoral fellow, continuing her work on topoisomerases and their role in DNA damage and repair pathways. In 2013 Ilaria relocated to London and joined Antonella Spinazzola’s lab at UCL for a second postdoc examining the mechanisms leading to defective mitochondrial DNA replication in human disease. Ilaria joined the Way Lab as research scientist in Feb 2019 and is studying the role of host and viral factors in genome replication of Vaccinia virus.
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LUIZ VASCONCELLOS did his BSc and MSc in Microbiology and Immunology in Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. He received the national prize Capes for his PhD thesis on the mechanisms of protein aggregation and autophagy in the lab of Leonardo Travassos. He then moved to Paris to study antigen presentation in haemolytic events with Bénédicte Manoury in the Necker Hospital of Children Disease before returning to Brazil to collaborate with Pedro Coelho on the role of blood components in intra cerebral haemorrhage. In 2019 he moved to QMUL in London as a Marie Curie fellow to study the role of PI3K signalling in gut immunity in lab of Ezra Aksoy. In Nov 2021 he joined the Way lab as a postdoc to study the function of Arp2/3 iso-complexes in immunity and inflammation.
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SHREYA KHOT, who is in her final 4th year of her PhD, graduated with an MSci in Pharmacology from King’s College London in 2022. Her interest in neuroscience began during an undergraduate research fellowship at KCL and was further developed during her placement year in the Bannister lab at the Wolfson Sensory, Pain, and Regeneration Centre, where she worked with in vivo mouse models of chronic pain. She joined the Way Lab for her PhD in 2022 and is investigating the role of ARPC1A containing Arp2/3 iso-complexes in the developing mouse cerebellum.
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NAOKO KOGATA obtained her degree in Life Science at University of Hyogo in Japan, followed by a Masters degree studying protein transport in chloroplasts at the Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University. She then worked as product developer in Unicharm Co., Japan prior to starting her PhD analysing cell-cell adhesion molecules during blood vessel development at the Research Institute for Microbial Diseases and National Cardiovascular Centre, Osaka Japan. She continued her interest in vascular morphogenesis as a postdoc studying the role of ILK in blood vessel wall formation in Ralf Adams lab, Cancer Research UK London Research Institute. In 2010 Naoko joined the group of Beatrice Howard at Institute of Cancer Research (London) to investigate embryonic factors in mammary primordial formation and mammary tumour progression. In 2017 she joined the Way Lab as a research scientist to investigate the role of Arp2/3 iso-complexes during development and tissue and homeostasis with a particular focus on the cerebellum.