Paola Fucini

Paola Fucini started her career in structural biology during her PhD at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry, in Martinsried and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat in Munich, Germany. With her postdoctoral studies, at the Oxford Center for Molecular Science (University of Oxford) and later in the Chemical Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, UK, she started to focus her research lines on the central role that the ribosome plays in all living cells and developed an in vitro transcription/translation system for the preparation of functional ribosomal complexes suitable for Mass Spectrometry, NMR and Cryo-EM analysis. With her first position as an independent Group Leader at the Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, AG Ribosomen, Berlin and later as Professor at the Cluster of Excellence for Macromolecular Complexes at the University of Frankfurt, she started to use also X-ray crystallography to understand the mechanism of action of small molecules, like antibiotics or protein factors that regulate gene expression targeting ribosome activity.

Since 2013 Paola is an Ikerbasque Research Professor and has recently joined as Distinguished Professor the Research Centre for Experimental Marine Biology & Biotechnology at the Plentzia Marine Station of University of the Basque Country (PiE-UPV/EHU). With this appointment Paola is building on her expertise and the know-how acquired to understand how the translational apparatus of model organisms that either pose a significant threat to human life (i.e. marine pathogenic bacteria and harmful algae) or that play a fundamental role for the life on our planet (i.e. Synechococcus spp., responsible for ~25% of organic carbon fixation on earth), respond to changing environmental conditions. Sensing and adapting to alteration in environmental conditions are indeed directly manifested in the cell by changes to the protein synthesis machinery which couples the environment to cellular function by controlling expression of the cellular proteome. The research envisaged aims at providing new opportunities to understand and possibly intervene to mitigate the impact of climate change on marine microbial systems and the future societal damage expected from their misregulation.