CSS - From Biochemistry to AI-driven Research Across the Entire Protein Universe

Joana’s research group “Protein Evolution and Function Models” was established at VIB.AI in February 2025. Before that, Joana studied Biochemistry at the University of Porto, did a PhD on protein crystallography and structural biology at the EMBL in Hamburg, a postdoc on protein evolution at the MPI for (Developmental) Biology and a second postdoc on structural bioinformatics at the Biozentrum in Basel. However, since a kid she has been fascinated by the universe, stars and space. In ter talk, she will tell you how this shaped her career and led her to establish a group that develops AI models to study the shape and diversity of the protein universe, predict mechanisms of function evolution, and apply them to microbiology, neurobiology and cancer research.

For registration, please write an e-mail to rst@tuebingen.mpg.de.