Dr. Jan Dohnálek
Jan Dohnálek is the founding chairman of the Czech Society for Structural Biology in 2010. He has been active in the field since 1995, with focus on X-ray crystallography, inhibition of proteins from pathogens, receptor-ligand interactions, protein:nucleic acid interactions, bacterial transcription, multidrug resistance and methods development. Jan stands behind the design and realization of the central laboratories for structural biology in the research centre Biocev, at the Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, providing open access research services. At the same time he leads the Laboratory of Structure and Function of Biomolecule at IBT investigating mainly structure-function relationship involved in multidrug resistant bacteria, bacterial transcription and non-specific nucleases, with occasional input into methods development. Nowadays, his team mostly utilizes crystallography (X-ray, electron, neutron), SAXS, cryogenic electron microscopy, and a plethora of molecular biophysics methods. His team stands behind the newly launched public database for raw biophysical data Molecular Biophysics Database. He is also a tutor of structural biology methods at the Czech Technical University in Prague and the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague.
Dr. Jan Dohnálek, Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Chairman of CSSB Council since 2010
Head of Laboratory of Structure and Function of Biomolecules, IBT AS CR
Head of Centre of Molecular Structure, IBT AS CR
Deputy chairman of the Czech Infrastructure for Integrative Structural Biology
Vice-president of the European Crystallographic Association
Member of the National Committee of the IUCr in the Czech Republic (at Czech and Slovak Crystallographic Association)
Mgr. Jarmila Dušková, Ph.D.
Jarmila Dušková (1967) currently works at the Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences as a researcher in the Laboratory of Structure and Function of Biomolecules. She specializes in protein purification, biophysical characterization and techniques related to X-ray structure analysis of proteins, including crystallization and structure refinement. She participated in the design of the Centre of Molecular Structure and other laboratories of the BIOCEV. She has been the coordinator of the UNESCO/IUPAC International Postgraduate Course at the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry for a long time. She has extensive experience in organizing workshops and scientific conferences. She has worked for the Czech Society for Structural Biology for almost ten years, the last five years as a member of the Council. She is actively involved in the organization of professional meetings and workshops and also manages the financial affairs of the Society. She would like to continue this work in the future.
Mgr. Tomas Kouba, PhD.
CURICULUM VITAE
Head of Cryo-EM research-service group, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS, Flemingovo nám. 2 | 166 10 Praha 6 | Czech Republic www.uochb.cz
Tel: +420 220 183 590, e-mail: tomas.kouba@uochb.cas.cz, ORCID: 0000-0001-8173-6930 Date of birth: February 22, 1984, Place of birth: Prague, the Czech Republic, Citizenship: Czech EDUCATION
2009 – 2013 PhD., Laboratory of Regulation of Gene Expression, Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic/Department of Biochemistry, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
2003 – 2009 MCs., Laboratory of Microbial Genetics and Gene Expression, Institute of Microbiology Academy of Science of the Czech Republic/Department of Biochemistry, Charles University, Prague, The Czechia
PROFESIONAL EXPERIENCE
2018 – 2021 EIPOD/Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow at Cusack and Beck groups, EMBL Grenoble, France and EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
2015 – 2018 Postdoctoral fellow with Professor Sir Alan Fersht, PNAC, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Transcription and replication cycle of segmented negative strand RNA viruses (Influenza, Lassa virus etc.); Molecular mechanism of bacterial transcription (special focus on mycobacteria); Viral and bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) and associated factors (protein, RNA: structure & function); Mechanism of action and development of novel anti-viral compounds; cryogenic electron microscopy
COLLABORATIONS
Maria Rosenthal, Department of Virology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), Hamburg, Germany
Kay Grünewald, ALFM and Cryo-EM facility director at Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB), Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)/Heinrich Pette Institute, Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Hamburg, Germany
Libor Krásný, Laboratory of Microbial Genetics and Gene Expression, Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
IOCB internal collaborations on structural biology projects with IOCB groups of Iva Pichová, Václav Veverka, Hana Cáhová, Pavlína Maloy Řezáčová and others
GRANTS
2023- The Czech Science Foundation standard grant: Where transcription meets translation, collaborator at the joint application with Institute of Microbiology and Institute of Biotechnology of the CAS
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
2018 – 2021 Fellowship from the EMBL Interdisciplinary Postdocs (EI3POD) initiative, co-funded by Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
2011 Best publication of the year, Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic
SUPERVISION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS
2023 – Member of PhD thesis advisory committee (TAC) at Faculty of Science Masaryk University/CEITEC
2018 – 2022 Superuser at the EMBL Grenoble cryo-EM facility with supervision duties for four other users
2018 – 2021 PhD student co-supervision, Laboratory of structural biology of protein-RNA complexes and viral proteins, EMBL Grenoble
2012 – 2014 Foreign master student supervision, Laboratory of Regulation of Gene Expression, Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
2018 Tutor at cryo-EM course at Partnership for Structural Biology, EMBL Grenoble, France
REVIEWING ACTIVITIES
2024 – Cryo-EM review panel of SOLARIS Polish national synchrotron Radiation Centre (Kraków, PL)
2019 – Cryo-EM review panel of Czech Infrastructure for Integrative Structural Biology (CIISB)
BIBLIOMETRICS
18 peer reviewed articles in international IF journals; 1 book chapter,
644 citations, h-index 13 (WOS)
SELCTED PUBLICATIONS
Koval, T., Borah, N., Sudzinova, P., Brezovska, B., Sanderova, H., Vankova Hausnerova, V., Krenkova, A., Hubalek, M., Trundova, M., Adamkova, K., Duskova, J., Schwarz, M., Wiedermannova, J., Dohnalek, J., Krasny, L. and Kouba, T. (2024) Mycobacterial HelD connects RNA polymerase recycling with transcription initiation. Nat Commun, 15, 8740.
Bulvas, O., Knejzlik, Z., Sys, J., Filimonenko, A., Cizkova, M., Clarova, K., Rejman, D., Kouba, T. & Pichova, I. (2024) Deciphering the allosteric regulation of mycobacterial inosine-5′-monophosphate dehydrogenase. Nat Commun, 15, 6673
Koutna, E., Lux, V., Kouba, T., Skerlova, J., Novacek, J., Srb, P., Hexnerova, R., Svachova, H., Kukacka, Z., Novak, P., Fabry, M., Poepsel, S. and Veverka, V. (2023) Multivalency of nucleosome recognition by LEDGF. Nucleic acids research, 51, 10011-10025.
Kouba, T., Dubankova, A., Drncova, P., Donati, E., Vidossich, P., Speranzini, V., Pflug, A., Huchting, J., Meier, C., De Vivo, M. and Cusack, S. (2023) Direct observation of backtracking by influenza A and B polymerases upon consecutive incorporation of the nucleoside analog T1106. Cell reports, 42, 111901.
Kouba, T. & Vogel, D. & Thorkelsson, S.R., Quemin, E.R.J., Williams, H.M., Milewski, M., Busch, C., Gunther, S., Grunewald, K., Rosenthal, M. and Cusack, S. (2021) Conformational changes in Lassa virus L protein associated with promoter binding and RNA synthesis activity. Nat Commun, 12, 7018.
Wandzik, J.M. & Kouba, T., Karuppasamy, M., Pflug, A., Drncova, P., Provaznik, J., Azevedo, N. and Cusack, S. (2020) A Structure-Based Model for the Complete Transcription Cycle of Influenza Polymerase. Cell.
Kouba, T. & Koval, T. & Sudzinova, P., Pospisil, J., Brezovska, B., Hnilicova, J., Sanderova, H., Janouskova, M., Sikova, M., Halada, P., Sykora, M., Barvik, I., Novacek, J., Trundova, M., Duskova, J., Skalova, T., Chon, U., Murakami, K.S., Dohnalek, J. and Krasny, L. (2020) Mycobacterial HelD is a nucleic acids-clearing factor for RNA polymerase. Nat Commun, 11, 6419. IF 16.6
Kouba, T., Pospisil, J., Hnilicova, J., Sanderova, H., Barvik, I. and Krasny, L. (2019) The Core and Holoenzyme Forms of RNA Polymerase from Mycobacterium smegmatis. J Bacteriol, 201.
Kouba, T. & Drncova, P. and Cusack, S. (2019) Structural snapshots of actively transcribing influenza polymerase. Nature structural & molecular biology, 26, 460-470.
Prof. Mgr. Ivana Kutá Smatanová, Ph.D.
Prof. Mgr. Ivana Kutá Smatanová, Ph.D., leads the Laboratory of Structural Chemistry at the Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice. She also serves as Vice-Dean for Internal Evaluation and International Relations and is a member of the Council for Internal Evaluation of USB. With over 20 years of experience, her research focuses on crystallization, crystallography, and structure-function studies of proteins.
She has authored or co-authored more than 70 scientific publications and has been actively teaching students at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels since 2001. She manages the Biochemistry study programs at the master’s and doctoral levels and participates in scientific projects funded by Czech Science Foundation, AS CR, MESC, FEBS, and international grants.
Since 2001, Prof. Smatanová has organized crystallization courses and, since 2004, the advanced FEBS courses “Advanced Methods in Macromolecular Crystallization”. She has held leadership roles in IOBCr, previously serving as president and vice president, and is now a member Ex-Officio. Additionally, she was a member of FEBS ACC and currently serves as secretary of the regional committee of CSCA, a member of the Council of CSCA, EC CIISB, and IPC ISBC Granada (Spain). She also chaired the program committee of the 25th IUCr2020 Congress in Prague.
Prof. Smatanová is a technical editor and reviewer for several scientific journals, including Materials Structure, Acta CrystD, Crystals, and Crystal Growth and Design. She led the organization of the 16th International Conference on the Crystallization of Biological Macromolecules (ICCBM16) in 2016 and international symposiums such as “Proteins in Action – Biophysical Techniques for Protein Research” and “New Trends in BioScience”. She is a regular speaker at international conferences and lectures at foreign universities.
RNDr. Veronika Obšilová, Ph.D.
https://fgu.cas.cz/vyzkum-a-laboratore/vyzkumna-oddeleni/strukturni-biologie-signalnich-proteinu
Veronika Obšilová obtained a master’s degree in Physical Chemistry at the Faculty of Science, Charles University. In 2005, she earned a Ph.D. in Medical Biophysics at the 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University. After completing her doctoral studies, she began working at the Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, where since 2010 she has led a research group focused on studying the structure and function of signaling proteins at the BIOCEV detached workplace in Vestec. Her scientific interest lies in studying protein-protein interactions and their role in regulating selected signaling proteins that play a key role in physiological and pathophysiological processes. She focuses primarily on 14-3-3 protein complexes with proteins involved in oncogenesis, apoptosis regulation, or calcium-mediated signaling. To study the structure and function of the complexes, she employs an integrated approach combining various biochemical and biophysical methods. She supervises PhD, master’s, and bachelor’s students in several study programs at Charles University. She has been a member of the Czech Society for Structural Biology since 2010. She is eager to participate in the activities of the Czech Society for Structural Biology as a member of the Council.
Daniel Rozbesky, Ph.D.
Daniel Rozbesky is the head of the Laboratory of Structural Neurobiology at the Faculty of Science, Charles University, and the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on the structural mechanisms of axon guidance, particularly the role of MICAL proteins in cytoskeletal dynamics. He employs protein crystallography, cryoEM, and cryoET to study macromolecular complexes, providing insights into neurobiological processes and disease mechanisms.
Daniel earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Charles University and completed postdoctoral training with Prof. Yvonne Jones at the University of Oxford. As a co-organizer of the Signalling in Disease and Development conference, an active lecturer, and a science communicator, he is committed to fostering collaborations and advancing structural biology in the Czech Republic. His candidacy for the CSSB Council is driven by a vision to strengthen the structural biology community and support young researchers.
RNDr. Rostislav Škrabana, Ph.D.
I work at the Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, leading the group of Structural Biology of Neurodegeneration. Traditionally, we investigate the structural changes of protein tau during neurodegeneration and its inhibition by antibodies. In the last decade we diversified our interests to the fundamental principles of disordered proteins, immunotherapy of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterization of lactoferrin-plasminogen system, 14-3-3 protein allostery. Our objects of studies we can express in prokaryotic and eukaryotic protein factories, purify to homogeneity and investigate by a synergic panel of structural and biophysical techniques. On the community level, our group serve as a sort of “crystallization nucleus” of an informal consortium of Slovak macromolecular crystallography labs, which is jointly applying for synchrotron beam time. My possible service to CSSB Council can consist in supporting wider participation of Slovak structural biologists in the Society and in contribution to a closer collaboration with Slovak biophysical society.
Dr. Vojtěch Spiwok
I am Vojtěch Spiwok. I am a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology of UCT Prague. I am a lecturer of structural bioinformatics and other courses. My research focuses on biomolecular simulation and their acceleration, machine learning, biomolecular interactions, bioinformatics and other fields. I have been active in the board of the society for many years, helping with chairing sessions at conferences, participation at CSSB club (as speaker or organizer), being an award jury and by other activities. I would like to act as a liaison of the Council of Scientific Societies and a voice of structural bioinformatics.
Mgr. Pavel Srb, Ph.D.
Pavel Srb (1981) currently works at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences as a researcher in the Chromatin Structural Biology group. He also manages the core facility for NMR of biomolecules. He specializes in the characterization of proteins, nucleic acids, and their complexes, particularly using nuclear magnetic resonance methods in combination with molecular dynamics.
The core facility for NMR of biomolecules at the IOCB provides users with access to modern NMR techniques, expertise in the preparation of isotopically labeled samples, and assistance in analyzing the obtained data.
He has extensive experience in teaching NMR spectroscopy methods, especially for audiences from related fields. He has been lecturing for many years in the course Modern Problems in NMR Spectroscopy in Pec pod Sněžkou. As part of Discussions in Structural Molecular Biology, he has been responsible for evaluating student posters for several years.
He currently applies his organizational skills primarily in the musical area of cultural life, and he is willing to dedicate part of his capacity to the needs of the Czech Society for Structural Biology.
prof. RNDr. Michaela Wimmerová, Ph.D.
https://www.ceitec.cz/glykobiochemie-michaela-wimmerova/rg20
Michaela Wimmerová is a professor of Biochemistry at Masaryk University (MU), Brno. She received her PhD in the field of protein biochemistry in 1996 from MU and was appointed as Assistant professor at the Department of Biochemistry Faculty of Science, MU. In 2001/2002 She completed a sabbatical at the Centre de Recherches sur les Macromolécules Végétales (CERMAV), CNRS, in Grenoble, France, where her research interests moved to the field of structural glycobiology. Currently she serves as the Director of the National Centre for Biomolecular Research at Faculty of Science and the Head of the Glycobiochemistry research group at Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University. She acts as the Chair of the PhD Doctoral Board of the Life Science program. Her research group primarily focuses on studying carbohydrate-binding proteins (lectins) that play a key role in host-pathogen interactions. Using a combination of structural biology, molecular biology, bioinformatics and biophysical approaches, they aim to uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying these interactions. In addition to teaching activities in undergraduate and graduate studies, she organizes annual Meetings of biochemists and molecular biologists. Her vision within CSSB is to enhance the visibility and impact of the Society within the national and European research landscape, fostering collaborations, promoting scientific excellence, and ensuring that structural biology remains a key player in interdisciplinary research initiatives. As a Steering Committee member of Czech Infrastructure for Integrative Structural Biology (CIISB) she is committed to advancing the long-term sustainability and development of structural biology infrastructure in the Czech Republic.
Dr. Lukáš Žídek
I work at Masaryk University, Brno, as a professor at Faculty of Science and a research group leader at CEITEC-MU. My research area is structure and dynamics of proteins, especially characterization of structural features, dynamics and interactions of intrinsically disordered proteins. The major structural approach in my research group is NMR spectroscopy, combined with other structural methods (cryo-electron microscopy, X-ray crystallography), biophysical techniques, and computational tools. I am currently an elected member of the Council of CSSB, In addition to the general duties of the Council member, I am responsible for keeping up-to date list of the CSSB members and collecting new applications. If elected, I am ready to continue this duty and to help CSSB to remain a national platform of structural biologists, an organizer of the annual Discussions in Structural Molecular Biology, a supporter of educational activities and of excellent students (PhD Thesis Award).