Meet Ioanna Myronidi of Stockholm Univeristy. The Greek national is a PhD student in Professor Per. O Ljungdahl’s lab within the Department of Molecular Biosciences, Wenner-Gren Institute who is currently taking part in the 2019 biohistory meeting on Yeast Research: Origins, Insights & Breakthroughs. This is her first meeting at CSHL and it included a poster presentation on “The ER membrane chaperone Shr3 co-translationally assists biogenesis of related polytopic membrane protein substrates” (a collaboration between Andreas Ring, Per Ljungdahl, and Ioanna). Thought his wasn’t the first time she presented a poster, “it was definitely the one [she] enjoyed the most.” Here is what else Ioanna said about her experience:

Given the history that comes with CSHL I had imagined that it would be a very inspiring place to be. It absolutely lived up to my expectations. I would recommend this meeting to everyone working with yeast, not only for the high-quality science that was presented and discussed but also for the opportunity to hear firsthand about some of the discoveries that laid the groundwork for establishing yeast as a model system.

We hope to have her back for Yeast Genetics & Genomics – a course she “would love to attend”.

What are your research interest? What are you working on?
My research interests focus on the mechanisms that govern the biogenesis of complex polytopic membrane proteins, i.e. how proteins that span a membrane multiple times manage to fold into a proper three-dimensional structure in the extremely crowded cellular environment and reach the target membrane compartment. With the use of yeast as a model eukaryotic system, I am studying how membrane chaperones at the endoplasmic reticulum assist complex polytopic membrane proteins -- such as amino acid transporters -- to fold correctly as they are being synthesized and destined for functional expression at the plasma membrane.

How did you decide to make this the focus of your research?
During a series of lectures on transporter protein biogenesis, function and regulation given by Professor George Diallinas at the University of Athens (Greece) I found myself fascinated by the mechanisms that drive the journey of membrane proteins through the secretory pathway of cells. Later on, I got the opportunity to work on a six-month project on amino acid transporter biogenesis in Professor Per Ljungdahl’s lab at Stockholm University where I came to work with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a beautiful eukaryotic system to study membrane protein biogenesis among a broad spectrum of other cellular processes. This experience was so motivating and inspiring that I knew the puzzle was complete: the question, the system, the place.

How did your scientific journey begin?
I find the “Why?” of curious kids evolving into the “How?” of motivated scientists most intriguing. I guess for some people the curiosity about how life works can only be satisfied as a scientist – and that is me.

Was there something specific about the Yeast Research: Origins, Insights & Breakthroughs meeting that drew you to attend?
There are two points that immediately drew me to attend the meeting: The excellent list of invited speakers and the opportunity to visit CSHL.

This is a historical meeting that brought together scientists that did groundbreaking work based on yeast genetics. Thus, for young scientists such as myself, I found it very motivating to be so encouraged to discuss our work and put it into perspective.

What is your key takeaway from the Meeting?
I got very useful feedback on our work and I look forward to trying out some of the suggested experimental approaches that allow the investigation of protein-protein interactions.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
Aside from science talks and discussions, I mostly liked hanging out in this wonderful place with people that come from every place on earth.

Thank you to Ioanna for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured scientists - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.