Prof. Dr. Seema Agarwal
Physical sciences, Preparative and physical chemistry of polymersNanotechnology
Biological and related sciences, Physical sciences
Biochemistry, molecular biology, structural biology, biophysics
Gene expression
Protein synthesis
Ribosomes
Translational control
Cryo-electron microscopy
Ribosome Display
Coordinator of ADDovenom consortium, funded by EC Horizon2020, 2020
Named ‘Coolest Person in Bristol’ by Bristol Post, 2020
Appointed to the Advisory Network of Schering Stiftung, Berlin, 2019
Wellcome Trust Investigator, 2018 – 2023
ERC Starting Grant, consolidating, 2012 – 2017
ANR Jeune Chercheuse Grant, 2009 – 2012
Elected Member of the „Junge Akademie” (Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften und Leopoldina, Germany), 2004 – 2009
Promoted Speakers Award, Gordon Research Conference, Newport, RI, USA, 2004
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Ernst Schering Research Foundation, 2002 – 2004
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Roche Research Foundation, 2001 – 2002
Outstanding Thesis Award, University of Zürich, Doctorate summa cum laude, 2001
Kekulé Fellowship, Fonds der Chemischen Industrie (FCI, Germany), 1998 – 2000
Erasmus Fellowship, European Commussion, EACEA, 1997
Fellow of the “Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes”, 1994 – 1997
English, French, German
Since 2020 Coordinator of ADDovenom consortium, funded by EC Horizon2020
Since 2018 Wellcome Trust Investigator
Since 2014 Professor of Biochemistry, University of Bristol (UK)
Toelzer, C., Gupta, K., Yadav, S.K.N., Borucu, U., Davidson, A.D., Williamson, M.K., Shoemark, D.K., Garzoni, F., Staufer, O., Milligan, R., Capin, J., Mulholland, A.J., Spatz, J., Fitzgerald, D., Berger, I. & Schaffitzel, C.* (2020) Free fatty acid binding pocket in the locked structure of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Science 370, 725-730. DOI: 10.1126/science.abd3255.
Powers, K.T., Stevenson-Jones, F.. Yadav, S.K.N., Amthor, B., Bufton, J., Borucu, U., Shen, D. , Becker, J., Larysh D., Hentze, M., Kulozik, A., Neu-Yilik, G. & Schaffitzel, C.* (2021) Blasticidin S inhibits peptide bond formation and release in mammalia and modulates translation dynamics at premature termination codons. Nucl. Acids Res. 49, 7665-7679. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkab532.
Eliseev, B., Yeramala, L., Leitner, A., Karuppasamy, M., Raimondeau, E., Huard, K., Alkalaeva, E., Aebersold, R. & Schaffitzel, C.* (2018) Structure of human cap-dependent 48S translation pre-initiation complex. Nucl. Acids Res. 46, 2678–2689. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gky054.
Karuppasami, M., Kusminder, B., Oliveira, T.M., Gaubitz, C., Prouteau, M., Loewith, R.* & Schaffitzel, C.* (2017) Structure of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Target of Rapamycin Complex 2. Nat. Commun. 8, 1729. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01862-0.
Neu-Yilik, G., Raimondeau, E., Eliseev, B., Yeramala, L., Amthor, B., Deniaud, A., Huard, K., Kerschgens, K., Hentze, M.W.*, Schaffitzel, C.* & Kulozik, A. E.* (2017) Dual function of UPF3B in early and late translation termination. EMBO J. 36, 2968-2986. DOI:10.15252/embj.201797079.
Deniaud, A., Karuppasamy, M., Bock, T., Masiulis, S., Huard, K., Garzoni, F., Kerschgens, K., Beck, M., Neu-Yilik, G. & Schaffitzel, C.* (2015) Structure of the SMG-1/SMG-8/SMG-9 Kinase Complex with the Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay Factor Upf1 by Cryo-EM. Nucl. Acids Res. 43, 7600-7611.
Von Loeffelholz, O., Jiang, Q., Airosa, A., Karuppasamy, M., Huard, K., Berger, I., Shan, SO & Schaffitzel, C.* (2015) The ribosome-SRP-FtsY co-translational targeting complex in the closed state. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 112, 3943-3948.
Gaubitz, C., Maia De Oliveira, T., Prouteau, M., Leitner, A., Karuppasamy, M., Constantinidou, G., Rispal, D., Eltschinger, S., Robinson, G., Thore, S., Aebersold, R., Schaffitzel, C.* & Loewith, R.* (2015) Molecular Basis of the Rapamycin Insensitivity of Target Of Rapamycin Complex 2, Mol. Cell 58, 977-988.
von Loeffelholz, O., Knoops, K., Ariosa, A., Zhang, X., Karuppasamy, M., Huard, K., Schoehn, G., Berger, I., Shan, S.O.* & Schaffitzel, C.* (2013) Structural Basis of Signal Sequence Surveillance and Selection by the SRP-SR Complex. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 20, 604-610.
Estrozi, L.F., Boehringer, D., Shan, S.O., Ban, N. & Schaffitzel, C.* (2011) Structure of the E. coli Co-translational Targeting Complex in the Stable Early Conformation. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 18, 88-90.
Schaffitzel, C., Oswald, M., Berger, I., Ishikawa, T., Abrahams, J.P., Koerten, H.K., Koning, R.I. & Ban, N. (2006) Structure of the E. coli signal recognition particle bound to a translating ribosome. Nature 444, 503-506.
Structure and Mechanism of Key Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay Factor Complexes
ADDovenom: Novel Snakebite Therapy Platform of Unparalleled Efficacy, Safety and Affordability’
Appointed Committee member of the Royal Society & Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellowship Interview Committee (SHDFIC), since 2021
Member of the iNEXT Horizon 2020 – User Panel, since 2020
Jury Member of the ‘Friedmund Neumann Prize 2020’ Schering Stiftung, Berlin, 2020 & 2021
Appointed Member of the Advisory Network of the Schering Stiftung, Berlin, since 2019
Member of Diamond Peer Review Panel 12 covering eBIC and B24, Harwell, UK, since 2019
Appointed Academic Lead of the GW4 Facility for High-Resolution Electron Cryo-Microscopy, Bristol, since 2018
Jury Member of the ‘Caroline von Humboldt-Preis 2015’ and ‘Caroline von Humboldt-Professur’, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, 2015
Appointed Member of the Biology Committee, Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), Grenoble, appointed 2010 – 2013
Treasurer, Chemistry Society of Zurich (CGZ), Switzerland, 2007
Representative for mid-level faculty, Council of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (re-elected 2005), 2004
Professor Christiane Berger-Schaffitzel named the coolest person in Bristol 2020, article on bris.ac.uk
The pride of Bristol – Dr. Christiane Berger-Schaffitzel, article on thebristolmag.co.uk
The Bristol Cool List 2020, article on bristolpost.co.uk
International Women's Day: the 87 most influential women in Bristol right now, article on bristolpost.co.uk
New type of antivenom to reduce 100,000 fatalities each year from venomous snake bites, article on newswise.com
Bristol researchers bite back at snakebites – The hidden health crisis", article on epigram.org.uk
Didactics and management training: Leading Competence Training for Scientists, EMBL Grenoble, Switzerland, 2009
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich Faculty Development Program in Didactics, Master level, 2006 – 2007
Conflict management seminar for scientists, organised by the Young Academy, Berlin, Germany, 2006
Young Leaders in Science Programme, organised by the Schering Foundation, Berlin, 2006
Management competence training for scientists, organised by the Young Academy, Berlin, 2005
ETH course in didactics (I + II), pedagogy, didactics for chemistry (I + II) (courses towards advanced teaching certification), 2002 – 2003
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Physical sciences, Preparative and physical chemistry of polymersNanotechnology
Physical sciences
Biological and related sciences, Health, Cell Biology, Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Vascular Biology, Tumour Biology
Biological and related sciences, Evolutionary biology, Animal behaviour, Gender studies, Science studies