NEWS The Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS) welcomes Ryo Morimoto and Iker Valle Aramburu as new Group Leaders!
Gruppbild MIMS.
ImageMattias PetterssonThe two new MIMS Group Leaders are starting their independent research groups at the field of infection biology in 2024, and they are both excited to take on the group leader role and establish their research groups in the collaborative and strong research environment at Umeå University.
Ryo Morimoto, MD, PhD
Ryo Morimoto brings a diverse background in medicine, biochemistry, and immunology, holding MD and PhD degrees from the University of Tokyo. During his postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics (Germany), he delved into the evolutionary trajectory of the adaptive immune system in vertebrates. His exploration centered on the emergence of sophisticated human immune system, orchestrating the interplay between innate and adaptive immunity—an exclusive feature in vertebrates, marked by the generation of diverse antigen receptors through somatic recombination/assembly of the host genome. This intricate process entails the delicate balance of minimizing the risk of genome disruption, potentially leading to cancer or cell death.
Ryo started his MIMS group leader position at the beginning of May 2024, and will focus on understanding host genome editing machinery in invertebrates—a pivotal element in fortifying immune functions against pathogens, demonstrating the fascinating evolutionary landscape of our immune systems.
Iker Valle Aramburu, PhD
Iker Valle Aramburu has a strong background in biochemistry and cell biology. During his PhD at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg (Germany), he studied the interaction mechanism of intrinsically disordered proteins of the nuclear pore complex. As a postdoc, he joined The Francis Crick Institute (United Kingdom) where he investigated the innate immune response of neutrophils in the context of infection.
The research in his upcoming lab at MIMS will focus on understanding the role of disordered proteins and microproteins in innate immunity applying a wide range of synthetic and chemical biology approaches. Iker will start his MIMS group leader position in September 2024.