NEWS UCMR Day conference at Umeå university is a great arena for its members to learn about new research and mingle with colleagues passionate about microbial research. It is also an excellent opportunity to increase the centre’s international visibility by inviting talented keynote speakers.
Yaowen Wu, Department of Chemistry, and host Ulrika Westerlind , Department of Chemistry, chatting with key lecturer Adriaan Minnaard, University of Groningen, (in the middle) at one of the coffee breaks at UCMR Day 2025.
ImageMattias Petterssona nice and lively community that is very engaged and interested
“The UCMR Day covered an impressive field, from chemistry, microbiology, plant science and cell biology to the clinic. This made a very lively ambiance, allowing people to look over the borders of their own discipline. UMCR is clearly fertile ground for research collaborations, says Adriaan Minnaard, professor at University of Groningen in the Netherlands, who was the one of the invited keynotes.
Adriaan Minnaard is interested in chemical synthesis-driven research on tuberculosis. TB is the deadliest infectious disease worldwide, yet we lack effective vaccines and rapid diagnostic tests. Minnaard’s group studies the synthesis and structure of complex glycolipids found in mycobacteria. The aim is to contribute to the diagnosis of, and vaccine development against, mycobacterial diseases, in particular tuberculosis. They envision that synthetic vaccines in this field can elicit a breakthrough and that diagnostic tests based on small molecules could be very effective.
Adriaan Minnaard was very happy with the two-day stay in Umeå.
“I made several new contacts at the conference, not all of them to immediately follow up, but to broaden my knowledge. In particular, the connection of the molecular science to the microbiology is very useful for me, says Adriaan Minnaard.
The second keynote lecture was held by Sabina Caneva, assistant professor at TU Delft in the Netherlands. In her lab they are interested in bridging advances in instrumentation and nanofabrication with insights into biophysical phenomena at the smallest scale.
DNA is mostly known as the molecule that carries genetic information. It is also excellent building material. Given DNA’s programmable sequence, Sabina Caneva’s group can engineer predefined 2D and 3D structures with nanometre precision and high yields. These structures can be designed to make sensors and actuators that respond to their environment. Using machine-inspired design, molecular self-assembly and single-molecule fluorescence imaging, she presented in her cool talk two examples of DNA origami nanodevices from her group.
“I met my Umeå host Nicolò Maccaferri for the first time! It was great to see how his proposed approach, fast optics, can be used to characterize biomolecules. We discussed if DNA could be used to make photonic crystals, so we if think it is the right moment or idea to pursue, I know how and where to reach him.
Key lecturer Sabina Caneva, TU Delft, and her host Nicolò Maccaferri, Department of Physics at Umeå University.
ImageIngrid SöderberghFor Sabina Caneva the conference overall was covering a different area of research than her own - biology at the microscale rather than nanoscale - so many of the talks and posters contained new knowledge.
“A memorable one was a talk on how the type 4 secretion system, which contains a nanopore, can facilitate antibiotic resistance, she says.
“I think that you have a nice, lively community that is very engaged and interested to cross-pollinate and share and listen to ideas from other fields. This certainly helps with innovation and finding solutions where you might not expect them”, says Sabina Caneva.