Michael Way did his undergraduate in the Biophysics Dept. King’s College, London. During his Ph.D. he studied the actin binding properties of gelsolin in the lab of Alan Weeds in the structural studies division of the Medical Research Council, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK. In 1989 he received the Max Perutz student prize for his Ph.D. work. He remained in Alan’s lab as a postdoc 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, Michael 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.
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Michael has been an editor for the Journal of Cell Science since 2005 and was appointed its editor-in-chief in 2012. He is on the editorial boards of Cellular Microbiology, Cell Host & Microbe, Developmental Cell, EMBO Journal, EMBO Reports and Small GTPases. He was elected an EMBO member in 2006 and a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2015. 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.
NAOKO KOGATA
Following her degree in Life Science at University of Hyogo in Japan, Naoko did Masters degree studying protein transport in plant chloroplast 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 by doing 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 and her ongoing research is to dissect the functional diversity of Arp2/3 subunit isoforms during invadopodia formation as well as its impact in tissue morphogenesis and homeostasis.
ILARIA DALLA ROSA
Ilaria graduated with a master degree in Biology from the University of Bologna, Italy. For her PhD she joined the group of Fritz Boege at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she studied the role of mitochondrial topoisomerase 1 on mitochondrial DNA maintenance. In 2010 she joined Yves Pommier’s lab at the NIH in Bethesda, USA, as postdoctoral visiting 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 in Feb 2019 and is studying how the host DNA damage response is activated by vaccinia infection and how this activation promotes viral replication.
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MIGUEL HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ
Miguel graduated in Biology from the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain), followed by a Master’s in Microbiology, in 2012-2013. For his PhD, he joined Peñalva’s lab, at the Biological Research Centre-Spanish Research Council, Madrid, where he studied endocytic recycling and the dynamic organization of the Golgi apparatus.
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In 2018, he joined Stephen Royle’s lab at the University of Warwick (UK) for a short stay, expanding his knowledge on the role of multi-subunit complexes and biological membranes in membrane trafficking, particularly in the formation of clathrin coated vesicles.
Miguel became a member of the Way lab in mid 2019, to study how vaccinia poxvirus hijacks membrane trafficking machinery in its replication cycle, with a special interest in the role of septin and clathrin in vaccinia virus assembly and egress. In order to do that, he is using a combination of Cryo-Electron Tomography and fluorescence microscopy, with a virology and cell biology perspective.
MIROSLAV MLADENOV
After obtaining his Pharmacology degree from London Metropolitan University, Miroslav did a research based Masters degree studying 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, where he focuses on biochemical analysis of Arp2/3 subunit isoforms.
SHAINA HUANG
Shaina did her Bachelor in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Hong Kong with a final year project studying viral micro-RNA expression in EBV-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in Prof. George SW Tsao’s lab. She continued to do her MPhil in George’s lab, during which she established the humanised mouse platform and multiplex immune cytochemistry to evaluate the immune infiltration in human NPC. In Oct 2020, she came to London and joined the Way Lab at the Crick to study the roles of Arp2/3 complex isoforms in the mouse immune system.
OLIVIA HILL
Olivia graduated with an Integrated Master’s degree in Biological Sciences from UCL in July 2021. In her final year she completed a research project on the organism-wide effects of mitochondrial stress in C. elegans in the lab of Dr John Labbadia at the Institute of Healthy Ageing, UCL. Her interests in cytoskeletal function and imaging were solidified during a Lister Institute and Microbiology Society-funded summer studentship in the lab of Dr Serge Mostowy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Olivia joined the Way Lab in as a PhD student in October 2021 and is investigating the impact of Arp2/3 isocomplexes on actin dynamics.
LUIZ VASCONCELLOS
Luiz did his BSc and MSc in Microbiology and Immunology in Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. 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 intracerebral 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 to study the function of Arp2/3 isocomplexes in immunity and inflammation.