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Dr. Michal Letek

Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences
University of Roehampton
Whitelands College, Holybourne Av., Parkstead House, Room 1054
 

Brief Biography:


My research work has been always focused on identifying novel ways to control bacterial pathogens. During my PhD, I studied the bacterial cytokinesis and cell wall synthesis to understand how Actinobacteria grow and divide. This group of bacteria includes important human pathogens that are becoming increasingly resistant to currently available antibiotics, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The proteins involved in bacterial cytokinesis and cell wall synthesis could be used as targets for novel antibiotherapies.

I had also an interest in studying actinobacterial virulence to identify novel ways to block the pathogenesis of these bacteria. During my first postdoctoral years I functionally analyzed the genome of an intracellular pathogen, Rhodococcus equi. The reconstruction of the regulatory network of this pathogen led to the discovery of novel virulence factors used by R. equi to survive inside macrophages.

My research work is now focused on the identification and characterization of the host molecular factors that are involved in the intracellular survival and proliferation of Staphylococcus aureus, another major human pathogen. This could be crucial to design novel therapeutic strategies to control MRSA and to identify the major determinants of susceptibility to S. aureus.

 

Academic positions:


08/2002.- BSc with Honours Degree in Fundamental Biology. University of León, Spain.

2003/7. PhD in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. University of León, Spain.

International postgraduate training required for obtaining the European Doctorate certificate:

- 2004.- Dr. Richard Daniel, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford (UK).

- 2005.- Dr. William Margolin, Houston Medical School, University of Texas (USA).

- 2006.- Dr. Klas Flärdh, Department of Cell and Organism Biology, University of Lund (Sweden).

03/2007-10/2007.- Visiting Fellow at the University of Bristol (UK), Bacterial Molecular Pathogenesis Group.

10/2007-10/2009.- Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh (UK).

11/2009-08/2013.- Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Cancer Research Centre of Salamanca, Spain.

09/2013- At Present. Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Roehampton, London, UK.

 

Research interests:


Cell division of Actinobacteria, intracellular proliferation of bacterial pathogens, genome evolution in bacterial pathogens, cell response to intracellular bacterial pathogens.

 

What I think of the idea behind WebmedCentral:


I think this is a fresh concept for publishing novel results.

 

Home Page:


http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/staff/Michal-Letek/