Scientific Advisory Board
With representatives from academic and industry partners, the Scientific Advisory Board reviews progress and performance of ongoing Network projects at the GlycoNet Scientific Annual General Meeting and delivers feedback to the Research Management Committee.
Members of the Committee
Dr. Paulson’s research program focuses on the field of glycomics, the study of sugars on a molecular level. His work, which may have implications for the treatment of cancer, influenza, and bacterial infections, has been recognized by awards including: Melville L. Wolfram Award; Karl Meyer Award; Bijvoet Medal, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University; Barnett Lecture, Northeastern University; and United States EPA Green Chemistry Challenge Award.
Prof. Sabine Flitsch holds a Chair in Chemical Biology at the University of Manchester in the School of Chemistry. Her research group is housed in the Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre.
Sabine obtained a Diploma in Chemistry from the University of Muenster, Germany and a DPhil degree from Oxford University under the supervision of Sir J E Baldwin. She spent three years of postdoctoral studies with Professor H G Khorana at MIT before returning to the UK to pursue her academic career at the Universities of Exeter, Oxford, Edinburgh and now Manchester, where she has held a Chair in Chemical Biology since 2004.
Dr. Gildersleeve’s group uses chemical approaches and glycan microarray technology to study the roles of anti-carbohydrate immune responses in the development, progression, and treatment of cancer and HIV. Dr. Gildersleeve serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of ACS Central Science, the Editorial Board of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and the Editorial Board of Cell Chemical Biology.
Dr. Imberty is a senior researcher of Centre National de la Rercherche Scientifique, in the Institute (CERMAV), in Grenoble. She has been the director of CERMAV for the period 2016-2020. She is the co-chair and previous chair of the Glyco@Alps network funded by Université Grenoble Alpes. Previously, she acted as Deputy Director of the Chemistry Department of CNRS in Paris in charge of interdisciplinarity.
Anne’s research interests are in the field of structural glycosciences, with main interest on biologically active oligosaccharides and their interaction with lectins and glycosyltransferases. My present work is focused about lectins from pathogenic microorganisms. On one hand, the characterisation of their interaction with human glyococonjugates and the design of competing glycocompounds open the way for anti-adhesive therapeutical strategies. On the other hand, these lectins can be engineered through synthetic glycobiology strategy for creating new tools in biotechnology, diagnostics and therapy.
Dr. Jiménez-Barbero
is Ikerbasque Professor and Scientific Director of CIC bioGUNE since 2014. He was trained at Madrid (PhD), and postdoc in CERMAV-CNRS (Grenoble); Univ Zurich; National Institute for Medical Research (Mill Hill), and Carnegie Mellon (Pittsburgh). Before moving to CIC bioGUNE (Bilbao), he was CSIC tenured scientist, senior research scientist, and Professor at Madrid (IQOG-CSIC and CIB-CSIC). He was President of RSEQ (Royal Society of Chemistry of Spain) and Head of the Chemistry Panel of the Ministry of Science His lab employs a multidisciplinary approach of chemical synthesis, protein biochemistry and molecular biology, biophysics, molecular modelling, and structural biology (X-Ray and CryoEM), with special emphasis on NMR to unravel the molecular basis of the recognition of glycans by receptors related to biomedical events, including cancer and infectious diseases. His systematic studies have contributed to our general understanding of glycan-mediated interactions and have been disseminated in over 650 scientific publications and 300 invited and plenary lectures. He has supervised 39 PhDs and 40 postdocs and awarded with the National Prize of Research in Chemical Sciences & Technology of Spain (2023), International Whistler Award in Carbohydrate Chemistry (2010), Gold Medal of the RSEQ (2018), and Humboldt award (2024) among many others.
Dr. Tiemeyer received his B.A. in biology in 1982 and his Ph.D. in neuroscience in 1989 from The Johns Hopkins University. He was a Helen Hay Whitney postdoctoral fellow in developmental neurobiology at the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to joining the CCRC faculty, Dr. Tiemeyer was a faculty member in cell biology at Yale University School of Medicine and Director of Biochemical and Clinical Analytics and New Methods Development at Glyko/Biomarin, Inc. Full publications: 27.
Research Interests:
The surfaces of all eukaryotic cells are richly endowed with a diverse array of complex glycoconjugates. Therefore, carbohydrate moieties linked to protein, lipid, and glycosaminoglycan form the interfaces at which cell-cell interactions occur. Consistent with their subcellular location and structural diversity, specific oligosaccharides function as cell-surface tags that allow cells to appropriately interact with each other and with their local environment. In fact, cell surface carbohydrates are among the most discriminating markers for cellular differentiation and pathogenesis. We utilize genetic, molecular, and chemical techniques in vertebrate (mouse) and insect (Drosophila) model systems to study two aspects of carbohydrate expression. First, we investigate the influence of cell surface carbohydrates on development of the nervous system. We identified and characterized a novel carbohydrate binding protein (Gliolectin) that mediates the fidelity of axon pathfinding early in neural development. Second, we study mechanisms that control tissue- and stage-specific oligosaccharide expression. We discovered that a member of the Toll-like receptor family (Tollo) influences tissue-specific glycosylation through cell-cell communication. Our results have implications for facilitating regeneration of axon pathways in the nervous system, for understanding innate immunity and tissue surveillance, and for controlling the cellular changes that precede tumor metastasis.
Observer
Dr. Wakarchuk is a Professor from the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta. The Wakarchuk lab investigates the structure and function of the enzymes which make and degrade various glycoconjugates. This work has been enabling the chemo-enzymatic synthesis of bioactive glycoconjugates both in the laboratory and for industrial projects. The Wakarchuk lab has expertise with both mammalian and bacterial carbohydrate active enzymes for glycan remodelling applications.
Terms of Reference
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