Ule Lab
London Lab
Alyssa Miller
Most of the London lab team is located at 'The Wohl', a new building at King's Denmark Hill campus that has a particularly strong focus on RNA-based mechanisms and therapies of ALS, and where our work is primarily funded by UK Dementia Research Institute. Three members remain in a satellite lab at the Crick until 2027 to focus on projects funded by Wellcome Trust.
Jernej Ule, 'Jernej' is pronounced as Yernay. I obtained my BSc with Ana Plemenitaš in Molecular Biology from University of Ljubljana in 1999, and PhD with Bob Darnell at the Rockefeller University in 2004. After a short postdoc with Bob, I started my independent research at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (Cambridge) in July 2006. In April 2013 I moved with my team to the Queen Square UCL Institute of Neurology in London, and in August 2016 we were seconded for 6 years to The Francis Crick Institute, where a satellite remains till 2024. In September 2022 most of the team moved to UK Dementia Research Institute at King's, where I took the position of UK DRI Centre Director to study the molecular pathogenesis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and develop new therapeutic strategies. I like to review papers and grants, am an EMBO fellow and a member of London RNA club.
Martina Hallegger, Postdoc since October 2014 (MNDA non-clinical fellow in 2016-19). Studies ribonucleoprotein complexes in motor neuron disease.
Cristina Militti, Postdoc since October 2014 (EMBO postdoctoral fellow in 2015-16). Studies mRNA structures and their role in RNP assembly and function.
Julian Zagalak, Postdoc since January 2016 (funded by SNF fellowship in 2016-17). Studies combinatorial control of pre-mRNA processing.
Llywelyn Griffith, joint AstraZeneca/Crick postdoc since Oct 2019, studies treatments targeting aberrant splicing in cancer.
Hanzhong Bai, PhD student during Oct 2020-Mar 2024 (LIDO programme and Boehringer Ingelheim fellowship), and now transitional postdoc. Studies RNA-RNA contacts in neurons.
Neve Costello Heaven, PhD student since Oct 2021 (UCL Wolfson-Eisai programme), studies the role of RNA condensates in neurodegeneration.
Ira A. Iosub, Postdoc since 2020 on computational studies of RNA structures.
Karen Davey, Senior research assistant since 2022, works on RNA biochemistry and cell biology and manages the King's lab.
Owen Gwydion James, Gwyd is a postdoc since Sept 2022, studies the roles of aberrant protein-RNA complexes in ALS to develop new therapies.
Charlotte Capitanchik, Postdoc since 2023, was PhD student working between Nick Luscombe and Ule labs (2017-2022),
Karen Irawan, PhD student since 2023 (KCL's Multiscale Models for Life or MM4L programme), studies the regulation of interstasis.
Michelle Gottlieb-Marra, PhD student since 2023 (KCL's MRC DTP iCASE programme), studies mechanisms that regulate RNA translation in neurodegeneration.
Alyssa Miller, Postdoc since Nov 2023, studies the role of protein-RNA condensates in protein aggregation and proteostasis.
Ella Nightingale, Research assistant since Feb 2024, works on ALS modelling, cell and molecular biology
Alice de Bernardy Sigoyer, PhD student from September 2024, working between Ule and Makeyev labs on homeostasis of protein-RNA condensates in neurons
Ljubljana Satellite
Ljubljana satellite team is located at the 'Chemistry Institute' in Ljubljana that has a particularly strong focus on structural studies, computational and synthetic biology. The team started in 2020 through support by Jernej's ERC project "Multivalent interactions driving RNP dynamics in development and disease" that ends in 2025.
Klara Kuret, PhD student during 2020-24, now postdoc focusing on computational studies of protein-RNA complexes.
Urška Janjoš, PhD student since 2021, studies the functions of nuclear RNPs that form on retained introns.
Aniela Skrzypczyk, postdoc since April 2022, studies mechanisms of RNA condensates in neuronal differentiation, funded by her own ERA fellowship.
Jure Rebselj, visiting student since Sept 2022, focusing on computational biology.
Luka Gnidovec, PhD student since 2023, works on homeostatic roles of multivalent RNPs.
Neza Vadnjal, postdoc since Dec 2023, works on RNA-dependent co-regulation of proteins involved in actin organisation, funded by her own ERA fellowship.
Affiliated
Martina Pedna, PhD student from September 2024, working between Alessandra Vigilante and Ule labs on computational analyses of multiomic signatures of altered protein-RNA condensates in cancer biology
Reem Abouward, PhD student working between Gianpietro Schiavo and Ule labs since October 2020 as part of the Wellcome Trust UCL neuroscience PhD programme. Studies the axonal transport mechanisms.
Grega Gimpelj, PhD student at Medical Faculty in Ljubljana, performs part of his PhD in the Ljubljana lab and collaborates with Chad Swanson in London.
Miha Modic, Postdoc from 2018, and Sir Henry Senior Research Fellow during 2020-24, now King's prize research fellow, and mentor of several students in Ljubljana who work on dynamics of RNP assembly in embryogenesis, funded by his ARIS J4-50145 project.
Tajda Klobučar, PhD student mentored by Miha Modic since 2020 and funded by Janko Jamnik scholarship, studies nuclear RNPs in early cell fate transitions.
Anja Trupej, PhD student since 2022 and mentored by Miha Modic, works on proximity-based studies of proteins interacting with specific RNAs.
Maksimiljan Adamek, PhD student since 2022, mentored by Miha Modic funded by Janko Jamnik scholarship, works on biochemical studies of phosphorylation-mediated LIN28A regulation.
Jona Novljan, visiting student since Dec 2022 and now MSc student, works on machine learning and high-throughput RNA reporters, mentored by Miha Modic.
Past Lab Members
James Tollervey, PhD student during October 2006 - April 2010. Now Associate Director of R&D at LGC Biosearch Technologies.
Zhen Wang, PhD student during October 2007 - September 2010. Now senior scientist at Depixius, Paris.
Melis Kayikci, PhD student during October 2008 - September 2011. Now bioinformatician at Genomics England.
Michael Briese, postdoc during December 2007 - March 2012. Now lecturer at the University of Wurzburg.
Nicholas McGlincy, joint postdoc with the group of Michael Hastings during November 2008 – August 2012, now Scientist III at Zymergen.
Julian König, postdoc during November 2008 - October 2013, funded by HFSP Postdoctoral Fellowship. In 2014 started his research team in Mainz.
Yoichiro Sugimoto, PhD student during October 2010 - July 2014, funded by the Nakajima Foundation. In 2022 started his research team in Berlin.
Chris Sibley, postdoc during August 2011-October 2015, in 2020 started his research team at the Edinburgh University.
Jan Attig, PhD student during October 2011-April 2015, funded by Boehringer Ingelheim Scholarship. Now senior scientist at Roche, Basel.
Ina Huppertz, PhD student during October 2012-September 2015, funded by Marie Sklodowska Curie ITN. In 2022 started her research team in Cologne.
Claire Hall, PhD student during Sept 2013 - Sept 2016, was funded by UCL Grand Challenge programme, then proceeded to medical school.
Nejc Haberman, PhD student during 2013 - 2017 on computation of protein-RNA interactions, now postdoc at MRC CSC in London.
Lilach Soreq, Postdoctoral fellow during August 2013 - November 2016, now senior bioinformatician in Israel.
Warren Emmett, Postdoctoral fellow during March 2016 - February 2018, now Bioinformatics Analyst at Inivata Limited in Cambridge, UK.
Igor Ruiz de los Mozos, Postdoctoral fellow from Nov 2014-Sept 2019, now senior bioinformatician at Spain genomics institute.
Andrea Elser, PhD student during 2016-2019 as part of the BBSRC LIDo Doctoral Training Programme. Now postdoc at Astra Zeneca.
Lorea Blazquez, postdoc during 2014-2018 (Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship). In 2021 started her research team at Biodonostia Health Research Institute, Spain.
Paulo Gameiro, Postdoctoral researcher 2016-2021 (Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship). In 2022 started his research team at the University of Coimbra, Portugal.
Patrick Toolan-Kerr, PhD student 2017-2020 (UCL Wolfson PhD), and then postdoc until 2022, now postdoc in Seville.
Rupert Faraway, PhD student 2017-2020 (UCL MRC LIfe and Biomedical Science DTP PhD), now postdoc in IMBA, Vienna.
Wei Jia Zhang, PhD student from 2018 to 2022 (UCL Wolfson PhD programme), studied therapeutic opportunities in neurodegeneration.
Flora Lee, was PhD student and postdoc during 2016-22 (Wellcome Trust UCL neuroscience programme), working on Staufen-bound RNA structures, now Wellcome Early-Career Research Fellow at King's Centre for Developmental Neurobiology with Laura Andreae in 2023
Anob M. Chakrabarty, was PhD student and postdoc 2016-23 between Luscombe and Ule groups, working on computation of mRNA structures, and then started his research team at UCL
Oscar Wilkins, PhD student during 2019-2022 (Wellcome Trust UCL neuroscience PhD) working on translational regulation, new methods and splicing-gated vectors, now postdoc with Pietro Fratta.
Past Lab Members (<3 years)
Iris Kramberger, visiting student during August-September 2010, then a PhD student in Oxford.
Matteo Cereda, visiting student for 9 months in 2010 and 2011, now team leader in Milan.
Dalia Daujotyte, short-term postdoc for five months in 2010 to study Staufen 2 protein using iCLIP. Now at Illumina.
Tina Lence, visiting student during March-August 2011. Now postdoc at IMB Mainz.
Josh Witten, short-term postdoc during January 2010 – June 2012. Now runs The Finch & Pea Group, Ltd - a life sciences and communication consulting firm.
Katherine Godin, short-term postdoc during October 2011 - September 2012. Now NMR Senior Scientist at Beryllium
Deepak Barnabas, 3-month visiting student November 2012 - January 2013.
Peter Juvan, visiting scientist December 2012 - February 2013.
Mojca Tajnik, visiting student, staying from March 2011 - March 2012, and March 2013-June 2013, funded by EMBO Short-term scholarship.
Laura Easton, research assistant during October 2011 - March 2013.
Andrea D'Ambrogio, postdoc during January 2013-August 2014. Now Senior Scientist at Horizon Discovery.
Rubika Balendra, PhD rotation student in 2015, funded by UCL Wolfson programme.
Liza Malong, PhD rotation student during March-May 2015 as part of the neuroscience PhD programme.
Aarti Singh, MSc student during March-September 2014, then research assistant during October 2014-September 2015. Now PhD student at UCL.
Alexandra Zirra, MSc student during March-September 2014, then research assistant during October 2014-September 2015. Now a PhD student at KCL.
Rehan Hussain, MSc student during March-September 2016. Worked with Cristina Militti.
Isabel Weisheit, visiting student from Ludwig Maximilans University of Munich, visited from June-November 2016 to work with Martina Halleger.
Gregor Rot visited our group and collaborated on bioinformatic projects to study the regulation of 3' end processing .
Frederique Rau, Postdoctoral fellow with Rickie Patani, who was hosted in our lab for a year, now young researcher in France.
Eleni Anastasakou, Lena was an MRes student during Oct 2016 - Sept 2017. Studied the long-range mRNA structures, together with Cristina.
Violeta Castelo Szekely, one-year visiting student Oct 2016 - Sept 2017 from the University of Lausanne, funded by the NCCR Doctoral Mobility grant.
Pablo Izquierdo Garrudo, PhD rotation student in spring 2017 as part of the Wellcome Trust UCL neuroscience PhD programme.
Katja Egli, Research assistant since October 2016, works mainly with Martina and Flora.
Liam Kempthorne, PhD rotation student in spring 2018, UCL Wolfson programme.
Michael Palo, summer student from University of Madison, July-August 2018, now PhD student at Stanford.
Jan Brancewicz, summer student from Warsaw University, July-August 2018.
Edwin Jarratt Barnham, summer student from University of Cambridge, July-August 2019
Adam Sheriff, summer student from King’s College London, July-August 2019
Hallie Hanson, summer student from University of Wisconsin-Madison, July-August 2019
Emma Groblewski, summer student from University of Wisconsin-Madison, July-August 2019
Federica Capraro, MSc student and then research assisitant during January 2018 - August 2019. Now a LIDo PhD student in London.
Christoph Sadee, Research assistant Oct 2016 - Nov 2018, working on a new magnetic rack among others.
Mariša Cvitanič, MSc student during July 2019-March 2020, worked with Miha Modic on RNA regulation in stem cells.
Yiling Li, MRes student during October 2019 - September 2020, continued to PhD studies in Magdalena Gotz's lab at the LMU Munich.
Velentza-Almpani Angeliki, MSc student during Jan-Sept 2020.
Aram Amalietti, Data Analyst during February 2019 - July 2021, software development and computational analyses of CLIP data.
Miha Sovrovič, Research assistant during December 2020 - September 2021, worked on ribosome profiling and genome editing.
Nina Lenaršič, Summer student in 2021, worked with Urška Janjoš.
Špela Barbič, Summer student in 2021, worked with Miha Milek.
Parth Patel, MSc student in Oct 2018-Sept 2019, and research assistant during Jan-Sept 2020 working on splicing modulation.
Lea Knez, Erasmus visiting student during Sept-Nov 2021, worked with Rupert Faraway
Zuzana Koskova, Erasmus visiting student during Sept-Dec 2021, worked with Martina Hallegger.
Stacy Steinberg, was Marie-Currie International postdoctoral fellow working between Su Guo lab at UCSF and Ule lab on the protein Rbm12a.
Miha Milek, Senior postdoctoral researcher during Jan 2020 - Mar 2022, who helped establish the Ljubljana team and worked on Staufen RNP assembly.
Nuša Avguštinčič, BSc student visiting Ljubljana team in winter 2022.
Perlina Desai, rotating PhD student with UCL-Birkbeck DTP programme in 2021.
Marc Jones, Postdoc working between Nick Luscombe and Ule labs during 2020-2022 on computational RNA biology.
Mahmoud-Reza Sina Rafiee, Postdoctoral fellow between Nicholas Luscombe and Ule teams during 2018-2022, developed new proteomic methods.
Katarina Lenarčič, MSc student from 2021-2022.
Maria Pisliakova, visiting student during July 2021-August 2022, worked with Oscar Wilkins.
Joyita Mukherjee, Postdoc during 2020-2022.
Taja Vatovec, visiting student Jan-Apr 2023, worked with Urška Janjoš.
Julie Qiaojin Lin, Sir Henry Wellcome postdoctoral Fellow until 2023, affiliated with the groups of Giovanna Malucci, Clemens Kaminski and Ule lab.
Žiga Vičič, Research assistant during 2021-2023, worked on iCLIP, ribosome profiling and molecular biology.
Lada Polyakova, summer student in 2023, worked on RNA-seq and CLIP.
Holly Digby, Research assistant from February 2020 to October 2023, worked mainly with Rupert.
Daniil Lutisky, BSc student working with Julian, Jan-Mar 2024
Parth Mehta, MSc student working with Gwydion, Mar-June 2024