Adaptive Immunity

Maťa studied Biochemistry at Charles University here in Prague and enjoyed the first touch of science in the lab of Noemi Cerovska at IEB studying the plant viruses. In 2007, she joined the lab of David Staněk at IMG and got her PhD training in the field of mRNA splicing. In 2012, Martina moved for her postdoc to the lab of Anne Spang at Biozentrum in Basel, Switzerland to work on polarized protein trafficking in yeast. In 2016, she joined the lab of Ondřej Štěpánek at IMG, where she explores the function of the BBSome, protein trafficking machinery, in polarized cellular structures, such as primary cilia and immunological synapse.

Research interests: Martina devotes her scientific life to understanding the dynamics of cellular processes by using qualitative and quantuitative fluorescence microscopy.

Juraj Michalik did his studies at the Institut National des Sciences Appliqués de Lyon, France. There, after two years of preparatory classes, he dwelled deeper into the realm of Bioinformatics, in which he did his master thesis. After working at Laboratory CRIStAL in Lille, France, for one and a half years, he followed his PhD at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris on the subject of Secondary structures of RNA. In May 2019, he became the member of the Laboratory of Adaptive Immunity led by Ondrej Stepanek.

Research interests: bioinformatics, RNA-seq and scRNA-seq data analysis, biostatistics, biological pathway modelling, secondary RNA structure sampling.

After studies at Biological faculty of South Bohemia in České Budějovice he moved to Prague and finished his PhD in Dominik Filipp’s lab at IMG. As postdoctoral fellow, he spent 6 years in Triantaffylos Chavakis lab in Dresden and from April 2019, he joined our team.

Research interests: central and peripheral tolerance, autoimmunity, adrenals, eosinophils, crosstalk of innate and adaptive immunity.

Aleš did his master degree in Molecular biology at Palacký University in Olomouc. His master thesis was focused on molecular ecology and paternity determination in flamingos. Then he moved to Prague for his PhD in immunology in the lab of Dr. Brdička at IMG. After completion of his PhD he joined newly established junior group of Dr. Štěpánek.

Research interests: Everything he finds interesting and worth researching in CD8 T cell biology.

Master’s degree in Cellular Biology at Charles University. Finishing her PhD in Immunology, worked on it in the lab of Biophysical Chemistry at J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry and lab of Leukocyte Signalling at the Institute of Molecular Genetics. Joined the lab of Adaptive Immunity in July 2020.

Research interests: T-cell signaling, T-cell co-receptors and adaptor proteins. Application of microscopy techniques.

Nika is a Charles University “inbred” – she did her Master’s degree here and now she is progressing towards her PhD – both in Immunology. She worked on her Master Thesis in the lab of Dr. Kovář at Laboratory of Tumor Immunology. Now, she is pursuing her PhD project in the Laboratory of Adaptive Immunity under supervision of Dr. Štěpánek.

Research interests: coreceptor-Lck coupling, T-cell fate, T-cell self-reactivity.

Šárka did her master degree at University of Chemical Technology in Prague, but worked at her diploma in the Lab of Adaptive Immunity of Dr. Štěpánek at IMG. Now, she is continuing for her PhD in Dr. Štěpánek´s lab.

Research interests: T cell signaling, costimulatory receptors for T cell signaling.

Verča did her master degree in Immunology at Charles University in Prague, being the second master to finish her thesis in the Laboratory of Adaptive Immunity. Now, she switched her topic from researching Bardet-Biedl syndrome to explorations of the T-cell variability using single cell RNA sequencing.

Research interests: new T-cell subpopulations (both real and non-existing ones).

Darina did her Master´s Degree in Biotechnology at the Comenius University in Bratislava, working on the development of lectin biosensors for the diagnostics of rheumatoid arthritis under the supervision of Dr. Tomáš Bertók from the Institute of Chemistry of the SAS. Then, she moved to Prague to pursue a PhD, and is now focused on the project dealing with the diversity of CD8+ T-cells under the supervision of Dr. Štěpánek.

Research interests: T-cell self-reactivity, virtual memory T cells, autoimmunity, advances in biomedicine.

Avishek did his Masters in Molecular Biology from the University of Hertfordshire, UK. His Master’s thesis was on the overall expression profile of Suppressors of Cytokine Signaling (SOCS) proteins when induced with signature cytokines. Following this, he moved Prague to pursue his PhD under the supervision of Dr. Huranova at the Laboratory of Adaptive Immunity, IMG.

Research interests: BBSome assembly, Actin re-modelling, Immune Regulation, TCR signaling.

Oksana completed her master degree in Genetics in Karazin Kharkiv National University in Ukraine. Since 2017 she has been working on her PhD project at the Lab of Adaptive Immunity under the supervision of Dr. Ondřej Štěpánek.

Research interests: genotype-phenotype correlation in BBS, BBSome function, immunological synapse formation.

Miška is a 2nd year bachelor student of Biology at the Charles university. She joined our lab due to her interest in immunology and chose it as a place where she wants to gain experience and learn new stuff.

Research interests: Functional diversity of CD8+ T cells.

1997-2001 Láďa tried to study Biology and Geography at Charles University in Prague, but finished bachelor degree of education at Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague in 2013, main field of study: Biochemistry and Biotechnology. At IMG working from 2006, Laboratory of Adaptive Immunity joined at 2016. Technician: mainly daily repetitive experiments, administration, take care of stuff and take care of staff.