Photo: Melanie Burford

TIM LYNAGH, Group Leader

Tim studied at the University of Queensland, Brisbane. His first lab project was on the modulation of neurotransmitter transporters by antidepressants and his Ph.D. was on the activation of ligand-gated ion channels by the antiparasitic drug ivermectin, graduating 2011. He worked as a postdoc at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, and then at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, honing various techniques to study ligand-gated ion channels. In 2019, he moved to the Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology (now the Michael Sars Centre) at the University of Bergen, Norway, where he focuses on iGluRs and ASICs.

Adriana Alvizu, Technician

Adriana is a marine biologist by training who has worked on taxonomy and phylogeny of marine sponges since her bachelor’s studies. In 2013, she moved to Bergen for Ph.D. studies in the Department of Biology, University of Bergen. After finishing her Ph.D., she felt the need to work on animals with a nervous system and joined the Lynagh Group at the Sars Centre as a lab technician.

Sharat Tumu, Technician

Sharat obtained his master’s in cell and developmental biology from the University of Bergen, where he studied nervous system development in Cnidarians. He then joined the Sars Centre as lab technician and continued working on photoreceptors in marine annelids, before moving to study evolution of ion channels.

Josep Marti-Solans, Postdoc

Josep did his master’s and Ph.D. in genetics at the University of Barcelona, Spain. There, he investigated the impact of gene losses on the mechanism of embryonic development using the retinoic acid and Wnt signaling pathways of non-vertebrate chordates (i.e. cephalochordates and urochordates) as a case study. Not long afterwards, he moved to Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology to study the relationships between iGluRs and ASICs in non-vertebrate nervous systems. His research project will help to unveil the role of these receptors in non-vertebrate synapses as well as help to understand how processes such as learning and memory have arisen during bilaterian evolution.

Oksana Sintsova, POSTDOC

Oksana obtained her master’s and Ph.D. in biochemistry in Vladivostok, Russia. Her research focused on discovering sea anemone venom composition and elucidating toxin structure and function. This work aims to use small natural proteins to create new drugs for e.g. pain, inflammation, and metabolism. Since the targets of toxins are often ion channels, Oksana had to immerse herself in the study of this fascinating field, leading her to the Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology.

Emily Claereboudt, postdoc

From swimming with starfish in the Indian Ocean, to the lab bench in Bergen, Emily joined us in 2023. Her previous work, e.g. in her Ph.D. at the University of Liège and the University of Mons, includes the investigation of membrane biophysics in echinoderms. This revealed how sea cucumbers diverged from sea urchins and other deuterostomes (like us!) in how they deal with toxic chemicals.

Yuhong Wang, Ph.D. student

Yuhong did her bachelor’s and master’s in Medicine, at Shandong University in China. Then she moved to the field of biology at the Sars Centre in Bergen, where she explored the functional role of HOX genes in the development of tunicates. Now she is doing her Ph.D. at the Sars Centre, working on the evolution of ion channels.

Giulio Rosano, Ph.D. Student

Giulio started his university career studying Astronomy at the University of Bologna. Later, he obtained his master's degree in Applied Physics focussing on biophysics and medical physics. His master's thesis research was conducted in SciLifeLab, Stockholm, where he investigated TRPV1 and alcohol modulation. His strong interest in ion channels and neurotransmitters receptors brought him to Bergen in order to pursue his Ph.D. at the Sars Centre. He’s passionate about football, cooking and travelling.

LINE ESPEVOLL VEVLE

Line did a MOL234 project in 2023 and an internship in 2024 with us, working on DEG/ENaC channels and iGluRs.

Ingrid Leivestad

Ingrid helped Yuhong by generating various mutant iGluRs.

Sigurd Skui Nøklebye

Sigurd helped Yuhong by generating various mutant iGluRs.

Mowgli Dandamudi

Mowgli graduated from the Lynagh lab with his PhD in 2023. He worked on peptide-gated DEG/ENaC channels from August 2019-September 2023.

Julius SCHREER

Julius visited us for five months in 2023 as a master’s student from the University of Münster, Germany. While here, he studied glutamate receptors using non-canonical amino acids.

Allan Barzasi

Allan visited us for four months in 2023 from the National Graduate School of Chemistry in Montpellier. He studied delta-type glutamate receptors in the Lynagh Lab.

Thea SuuL

Thea was here Spring 2023 in UiB’s MOL231 course and summer 2023 for an internship.

EVA JEGOROVAITE

Eva did an internship in summer 2023 working on invertebrate iGluRs.

Marc Chillarón Adán

Marc visited as a Biology student from the University of Barcelona on the Erasmus+ program. He worked on iGluRs and ASICs in Oikopleura dioica.

Kristine Trøgstad

Kristine was here in Spring 2023 in UiB’s MOL231 course working on oocyte viability and FaNaCs.

Léa Blanché

Léa was a visiting student from the National Graduate School of Chemistry of Montpellier, working on the DEG/ENaC ion channel superfamily in the Lynagh group summer 2022.

SaNdra Seljeset

Sandra worked on NMDA receptors as a postdoc 2019-2022 and moved on to a job at Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

Natalie Kavli

Natalie studied glutamate receptors/synaptic proteins in the Lynagh Group in 2022 as a UiB MOL231 student .

Cecilie Farstad Vidme

Cecilie studied glutamate receptors/synaptic proteins in the Lynagh Group in 2022 as a UiB MOL231 student.

Lara Panicot-Buj

Lara worked on ancestral recontruction in the Lynagh Lab in 2019 as part of her final project for her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Barcelona.