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Lab members

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Current lab members

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Grace Harrison
PhD Student, 2023 -
I was an Honours project student in the lab in 2022 and I decided to join the lab as a PhD student in Sept 2023. The focus of my project is to investigate  how branched ubiquitin chains are formed in cells.

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Isobel Cole (Izzy)
PhD student, 2024 -
In 2020 I started my research journey as a research technician in the Kulathu lab, participating in research on branched ubiquitin chains which ignited my enduring interest in post-translational protein modification networks. Following this, I obtained a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from the University of Warwick in 2024, having completed a year studying at the University of Tokyo as part of my degree.
I returned to the Kulathu lab as a PhD student in 2024, with my project focussing on the mechanism of ribosome UFMylation and the physiological importance of this process. Outside of the lab, I have interests in singing, languages, fashion and climbing. 




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Rachel O'Dea
Postdoctoral researcher, 2024 -
I completed my PhD at the Centre for Chromosome Biology, Galway under the supervision of Prof. Corrado Santoncanale. Here, using cell biology approaches I found that the deubiquitylase USP9X influences genome stability through an indirect regulation of tumour suppressor genes. After my PhD I moved to the Max Planck in Dortmund to work in the lab of Dr. Malte Gersch where I developed chemical biology tools to identify proteases regulating Fubi (a ubiquitin-like modification) and showed their cellular importance for ribosome protein maturation.
I received a Marie Curie Postdoc fellowship and joined the Kulathu Lab in April 2024, during my time here I will combine my chemical and cell biology experience to explore the enzymes regulating UFM1 modifications and the pathways modulated by this system.


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Stephen Matthews
Senior Postdoctoral researcher
I joined the lab in October 2016 and am investigating in the regulation of T cell activation by ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like modifiers. 
I graduated from the University of Bristol with a BSc. In Biochemistry and moved to Imperial College London to study mechanisms of lung pathology during respiratory virus infections for my PhD studies under Prof. Peter Openshaw.  Subsequently I undertook postdoctoral training in the lab of Prof. Colin Watts at the University of Dundee where I investigated various aspects of lysosomal function in immune cells.

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Anna Pérez i Ràfols    
Postdoctoral researcher, 2023-  
I graduated from the University of Barcelona (Spain) with a BSc in Pharmacy, followed by a PhD within the Marie Curie training network (RNAct) at the University of Florence (Italy). During my PhD I worked on the design of new RNA binding proteins and new analytical approached for biopharmaceutical formulations. I joined the Kulathu Lab as a Postdoc with the goal to study structural, biochemical and cell biological aspects of branched ubiquitin chains. 



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Leonie Peter
Student, Erasmus program and Lister summer student

I earned my BSc from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU, Germany) and completed my thesis at the Medical School Hamburg under the supervision of Prof. Heidi Olzscha. My research focused on the effects of modulated expression of the polyglutamine protein IRF2BPL in neuronal cells. I then continued at MLU for my MSc in Biochemistry, specializing in structural biochemistry. As a research student in Prof. Panagiotis Kastritis’ cryo-EM lab, I worked on the 3D structure of eukaryotic glutamine synthase. To further expand my research experience, I joined Prof. Yogesh Kulathu’s lab on an Erasmus program and extended my stay on a Lister summer studentship.
Outside the lab, I enjoy traveling, reading, and learning new languages.


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Ryosuke Ishimura
Postdoctoral researcher, 2025-
I obtained my PhD from the University of Tokyo in 2017, where I investigated the biological significance of the UFM1 system. Since then, I have continued to explore ufmylation biology at Niigata University and later at Juntendo University, focusing on the molecular mechanisms by which the UFM1 E3 ligase complex regulates ribosome-associated quality control. My work has also involved studying how mutations in UFM1 system components may be linked to pediatric encephalopathies, aiming to better understand the physiological roles of this pathway. In 2025, I was awarded an Overseas Research Fellowship from the Uehara Memorial Foundation and joined the Kulathu lab to develop molecular tools for studying ubiquitin and UFM1 biology.


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Matthew McFarland
Postdoctoral Researcher

I graduated from the University of Aberdeen with a BSc in Biomedical Sciences in 2012, followed by a PhD studying the mRNA translation system of baker’s yeast in 2016. I moved to the University of Nottingham in 2017, where I researched the translational control of embryogenesis in fruit flies, before joining the Kulathu lab in early 2019 and have since been investigating DUB biology in yeast and mammalian systems.
Outside of the lab, I am a keen(ish) runner, occasional hill walker, and aficionado of video games and TTRPGs.



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Logesvaran Krshnan
Postdoctoral researcher, 2022-
I graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Melbourne, Australia. Subsequently, I completed my PhD research under the supervision of Associate Professor Matthew Call and Dr. Melissa Call at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), Australia. My PhD thesis was on understanding the spatial organisation of subunits of the T-cell receptor complex. In 2017, I undertook a short postdoctoral training in cell biology at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, researching on mechanisms of intracellular cholesterol transfer via membrane contact sites under the mentorship of Assistant Professor Yasunori Saheki. In May 2018, I joined the lab of Professor Pedro Carvalho at the University of Oxford, where I studied mechanisms of protein quality control of inner nuclear membrane proteins in mammalian cells. Since August 2022, I have joined the Kulathu Lab as a Postdoc with the goal to study biochemical and cell biological aspects of branched ubiquitin chains. Outside of lab, I enjoy discovering places, cultures and food, watching musicals, and cooking.


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Helge Magnussen
Postdoctoral researcher, 2020-

I started my academic education in Hamburg (2010-2013), where I took an undergraduate degree in Chemistry. During the course of my studies I got insight into the world of proteins in a basic course in biochemistry. This fascinated me so much that I decided to continue with a more specialised Master’s degree in protein chemistry, which I undertook at Umeå University, Sweden (2013-2015). After a degree project in the NMR lab of Magnus Wolf-Watz I joined the X-ray crystallography lab of Danny Huang at the CRUK Beatson Institute in Glasgow, where I did my PhD working on the ubiquitin ligase MDM2 (2015-2020). I joined the Kulathu lab in October 2020, where my work focusses on the UFMylation pathway.


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Alicia Cordova Perez
PhD Student, 2020-
I obtained a BSc in Biologist pharmaceutical chemist from the Autonomous University of Yucatan (Mexico) and an MSc in Manipulation Genetics and Molecular Cell Biology from the University of Sussex. In my master dissertation at the Genome Damage and Stability Centre, I worked on the characterisation to two novel mutations of the Topoisomerase 3 from S. cerevisiae. In 2020, I joined Dr Yogesh Kulathu’s research group as a PhD student within the UBIMOTIF training network, my project focuses on the discovery and characterisation of SLiMs that function as substrate recognition motifs in DUBs.


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Linnan Shen
Lab Manager 2021-

I joined the lab of Dr. Yogesh Kulathu in December 2021 as a senior research technician. I obtained my Ph.D from East China University of Science and Technology. Following my PhD, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Centre de Investigaciones Biologicas (Madrid, Spain) to investigate the molecular basis of the Glanzman’s Thrombasthenia (GT). In 2005, I joined Professor Ron Hay’s group at University of Dundee as a post-doc to  study SUMO specific proteases (SENPs).


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Rohan Thakur
PhD student 2023-

I completed my M.Sc. in Human Genomics from Panjab University, Chandigarh, following which, I pursued my interest in drug discovery research in various labs focusing mostly on evaluating small molecules against diverse targets for therapeutic interventions. My curiosity to understand the roles of post translational modifications functioning as regulatory mechanisms mainly stems from my experiences of working with kinases, proteases, and hydroxylases. What excites me most is how biological processes are orchestrated by multiple proteins that requires their modification with PTMs and how cells use these modifications as a signal to regulate diverse functions. I was accepted into the MRC PPU PhD programme in 2023, and joined the Kulathu lab to investigate how the ubiquitin-like protein UFM1 regulates protein biogenesis at the ER.


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Gaurav Anand
Postdoc 2022-
I received my PhD from International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi in 2017 working on molecular aspects of erythrocyte invasion by the Plasmodium parasite. The findings from my PhD and subsequent postdoc research holds great relevance for malaria vaccine development. I did a postdoc in the Virdee Lab from 2020, where I worked used chemical probe technology that agnostically measures Parkin E3 ligase activity to develop a high throughput biomarker platform. I joined the Kulathu lab as a postdoc in October 2022 and am working on branched ubiquitin chains. Other than research, I am interested in poetry, philosophy, history and music.


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Pritha Dasgupta
PhD student 2022-
I completed my M.Sc. in Biotechnology from IIT Bombay in 2021. For my Master’s thesis project, I worked on developing a novel and efficient β-glucosidase for industrial bioethanol production using structure-based rational design approach. Later, I joined National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore as a CSIR Junior Research Fellow to work on a project that focused on elucidating the unfolding pathway of a Ubiquitin-like modifier FAT10.  In 2022, I received the Tricia Cohen Prize PhD Studentship and joined the lab to pursue my interest in ubiquitin biology. In my spare time, I enjoy singing and exploring new places.


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Ian Kelsall
Senior Postdoc 2023-
I obtained an MSci in Biochemistry from the University of Glasgow in 2004, my degree having included a one-year work placement with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. Between 2004 and 2008 I undertook PhD studies with Prof. Tricia Cohen in Dundee, investigating the roles played by the glycogen targeting subunits of Protein Phosphatase 1. Following this, I undertook postdoctoral research in the labs of Dr Arno Alpi, Dr Leonie Unterholzner, and Prof. Sir Philip Cohen, investigating various aspects of ubiquitylation and innate immune signalling.
I joined the Kulathu lab in January 2023, where I intend to continue my interest in innate immune signalling via the Toll-like receptor family.


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Yogesh Kulathu
Group Leader

Yogesh graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering in 2000 from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, India, followed by a Masters degree in Biotechnology. He then went on to do a PhD in Immunology under the guidance of Prof. Michael Reth at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and University of Freiburg in Germany, where he worked on B cell antigen receptor signalling and protein tyrosine kinase regulation. To apply structural biology methods to study cell signalling, Yogesh moved to Cambridge in 2009 to work with Dr. David Komander at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.
In February 2013, Yogesh relocated to the MRC PPU to establish his research program, focussing on ubiquitin signalling mechanisms and is the Professor of Cellular Biochemistry since 2022. In 2015 Yogesh received a prestigious ERC Starting Grant, and was selected as a member of the EMBO Young Investigator Programme. Yogesh is a recipient of the Lister Prize from the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine and in 2021 received an ERC Consolidator Grant. Yogesh



Lab Alumni

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Connie Drew and Ellen Doris
Honours Project students, 2024





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Sharifah Nuralwiah Ahmad Alsree (Wiah)
Lister Summer student Jul-Aug 2023
Research assistant Aug - Dec 2023


Wiah graduated in 2025 and is set to start a MSc Neuroscience program at UCL

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Joshua Peter
PhD student 2017-2021
Postdoctoral Researcher 2021-2023
Joshua joined the Lima Lab at Sloan Kettering Institute, New York for a postdoc



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David Milrine
Postdoctoral researcher, 2020-2023
David joined the Manchester CRUK Institute as the Translational Immunology Team Lead



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Sven Lange
PhD student 2015-2019
Postdoctoral researcher 2019-2022
Sven is now a postdoc in the Brown Lab at Harvard Medical School


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Lee Armstrong
PhD Student 2018-2022
Joined Outrun Therapeutics as Research Associate


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Iona Wallace
Rotation student, 2021-22
PhD student in Kirby Swatek Lab, MRC PPU


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Thomas Cummings
Postdoctoral researcher, 2020-2022
Joined Trisk Bio


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Dominika Kwasna
Erasmus studentship and PhD student 2016-2021
Joined the Glatt Lab, Poland on a Marie Curie fellowship for a postdoc


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Magda Gorka
Marie Curie ITN, 2018-2021



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Syed Arif AbdulRehman
Postdoc 2014-2020
Joined the De Cesare Lab, Dundee for a postdoc


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SooYoun Choi
Postdoc 2013-2019
Joined the Davies Lab, Birmingham for a second postdoc


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Luuk van der Bekerom
Research technician 2018-19
Associate Scientist at Galapagos, Belgium


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Jayaprakash Natarajan
PhD student 2014-18
Senior Scientist at Stelis Biopharma, India


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Deepika Pathak
Postdoc 2016-17
Postdoctoral research associate, University of Nottingham


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Pawel Leznicki
Postdoc 2014-17
Senior Scientist at Sygnature Discovery, UK


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Yosua Kristariyanto
PhD student 2013-2017


Internship/Erasmus/Rotation students

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Grace Harrison
Honours Project student, 2022
Back in the lab as a PhD student since 2023


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Thomas McConnell
Honours Project student, 2022


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Izzy Cole
Internship 2020, 2021
Undergraduate student, University of Warwick
Back in the lab as a PhD student since 2024



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Louise Chapman
Summer student 2022
Presently doing a PhD at University of Edinburgh




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Kerry Liney
Internship 2020
Healthcare scientist at GenQA-NHS Lothian



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Marianna Maddaloni
Internship 2019-20
PhD student
Regensburg Center for Interventional Immunology


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Jordan Warner
MRC DTP Rotation student 2019
PhD student
Cell Signalling and Immunology, Dundee


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Nikoleta Vavouraki
Internship 2017-18
PhD student University of Reading



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Lambert Montava Garriga
MRC Rotation student 2015
Research Scientist, Astra Zeneca




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