Institute of Protein Biochemistry, CNR.

Via P. Castellino, 111 - 80131 Napoli

2015 IBP Seminar Series

CNR Conference Room

Friday, October 23rd, 2015 at 14:30

Prof. Manuela Baccarini

Center for Molecular Biology, University of Vienna, Austria

"In vivo functions of ERK pathway components"

Host: Dr Daniela Corda

Tel. 081-6132536; e-mail: d.corda@ibp.cnr.it

Manuela Beccarini obtained her PhD in Experimental Medicine from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 1988, studying the role of innate immune cells in the resistance against eukaryotic pathogens and tumors. She then moved to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, where she studied signal transduction in the group of E. Richard Stanley. Signal transduction has been the focus of her research as an independent group leader, first at the Fraunhofer Institute in Hannover, Germany, and since 1994 at the University of Vienna. Over the years, her lab has contributed to deciphering the essential functions of components of the Ras/Raf/Mek/ERK cascade in the context of the whole organism, and on determining how the pathway is wired in vivo. Using reverse genetics, they could show that the essential in vivo functions of Raf kinases (Raf1 and BRaf) and of Mek kinases (Mek1 and Mek2) are fundamentally different. These results have changed the way to look at Raf and Mek and have opened new possibilities for molecule-targeted therapy. Her lab has been involved in many fruitful collaborations both at the National (PhD Programs, SFBs) and international levels (EU grants). Currently, she is Professor of Cell Signaling and Deputy Scientific Director of the Center of Molecular Biology, Max F. Perutz Laboratories. She has been a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences since 2010 and EMBO member since 2012.

Dr Maria Rosaria Coscia & Stefania Mariggiò
Seminar Coordinators
Institute of Protein Biochemistry, CNR
Via P. Castellino, 111
80131 Naples Italy
Tel 0039 081 6132556/545