Hedda retires as BioCat ambassador

BioCat would like to welcome Flore Kersten as the new ambassador for UiO! She replaces Hedda Johannsen who served as ambassador from 2018 and successfully defended her thesis earlier this fall/summer. A big thanks to Hedda for all of her hard work, and we wish her well in her new adventures!

Here is a little info about Flore – feel free to take contact with her if you have any questions or concerns!

Meet Flore

Flore Kersten

I have always been interested in discovering new cultures and working environments, so although I am originally from France, I have pursued my education across several different countries. This began with a binational Bachelor of Chemistry, where I spent half of my study-time in Germany and half in France. While in Freiburg (Germany), I worked in collaboration with Prof. Einsle’s group to write my Bachelor thesis, where my interest for Structural Biology was formed. I continued to explore this field in various countries through my master studies, ultimately deciding on a binational Master of Science in Biochemistry and Biophysics. These travels included a research stay of 6 months in Gunnar von Heijne’s lab in Stockholm (Sweden), and completion of my Master thesis in Dr. Weixlbaumer’s lab in Illkirch (France).

In 2019 I was awarded an Innovative Training Network (ITN) grant from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA, European Commission) for my PhD project at the Center for Molecular Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine at UiO. I am a member of the Structural Biology and Drug Discovery Group, led by Professor Hartmut ‘Hudel’ Luecke, a PI/research group member of BioCat.

My research focuses on the structural studies of two proteins that play a crucial role in human disease: GRBC 1/2 and UreI. I am mainly interested in the use of different Structural Biology techniques to unravel structures of various proteins and protein complexes, such as single particle cryo-EM and X-Ray crystallography. I also look forward to expanding my network across Norway and Europe with the help of BioCat and UiO.