Prof. Dr. Maria Carmo-Fonseca, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Lisbon University, Lisbon, Portugal.
Prof. Carmo-Fonseca, as a post-doc in Heidelberg (Germany), discovered that spliceosomal snRNAs concentrate in a sub-nuclear compartment later identified as coiled or Cajal bodies. She has devoted the rest of her career to the study of nuclear organization, RNA and splicing. She co-founded the Lisbon Institute of Molecular Medicine and served as its first Director for 14 years. Her group study RNA splicing and its role in the regulation of gene expression in cancer and genetic diseases.
Pr. Matthias Hentze, Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit, EMBL/Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Pr. Matthias Hentze is director of EMBL since 2013, co-Director of the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit at Heidelberg since 2002. His group, co-directed with Andreas Kulozik, focuses on basic and translational aspects of RNA biology in common diseases such as the hemoglobin disorders, thrombosis, inflammation and childhood cancer. Together they made important contributions in the field of mRNA metabolism (notably the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay mechanism) and 3' end processing.
Pr. Roland Beckmann, Gene Center Munich, Munich University, Munich, Germany.
Pr. Roland Beckmann leads a research team focusing on deciphering the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of protein biosynthesis, as well as the biogenesis of eukaryotic ribosomes. His laboratory predominantly employs cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to determine the structure of functionally defined complexes involved in these processes. Among his most recent and significant contributions are the elucidation of the role of the Ccr4-Not complex in the codon-dependent regulation of mRNA stability, the discovery of a mechanism involved in the resolution of ribosome collisions in bacteria, and the structural and functional characterization of the final cytoplasmic maturation stages of the small ribosomal subunit in humans.