Beneficiaries
Daniela Ribeiro
Daniela Ribeiro is the group leader of the Virus-Host Cell Interactions Laboratory at the Institute of Biomedicine (iBiMED), University of Aveiro (Portugal), and Coordinator of the VirION MSCA Doctoral Network.
The University of Aveiro is a young and dynamic institution recognized for its strong commitment to research, innovation, and international collaboration. Within the university, iBiMED brings together multidisciplinary teams working across the biomedical sciences, fostering a collaborative environment dedicated to understanding disease mechanisms and developing innovative therapeutic approaches.
The Virus-Host Cell Interactions Laboratory is dedicated to studying the complex interplay between viruses and their host cells. Through a diverse portfolio of research projects, the group aims to uncover cellular mechanisms that can be exploited as targets for the development of innovative broad-spectrum host-targeted antiviral therapies.
Daniela's research has contributed to advancing the understanding of the interactions between different viruses and the host translation machinery, protein quality-control pathways, and the role of specific phosphatases in the contexts of viral infection and antiviral responses. Her work has also generated important advances in the field of peroxisome biology, including the demonstration that peroxisomes contribute to the malignant transformation of prostate cancer cells.
A major current research focus of the laboratory is the study of peroxisomes in the context of viral infection. By investigating how these organelles influence virus-host interactions and antiviral immunity, the group seeks to identify novel cellular targets for future antiviral strategies, a research direction that forms the basis of the VirION project.
Hans Waterham
Hans R. Waterham is Professor Functional Genetics of Metabolic Diseases at Amsterdam University Medical Center, the Netherlands. He is a molecular and biochemical geneticist whose work has substantially advanced understanding of inherited metabolic diseases, particularly peroxisomal disorders and defects in the isoprenoid/cholesterol biosynthesis. Drawing extensively on (human) genetics, biochemistry, and cell biology, his expertise spans molecular and biochemical characterization of metabolic diseases, elucidation of genotype–phenotype relationships, dissection of cellular consequences of genetic defects, and translation of mechanistic insights into improved diagnostics, targeted therapies, and patient care.
His group identified several novel genetic peroxisomal defects and contributed to elucidating peroxisomal single enzyme deficiencies, biogenesis disorders, fission defects, and peroxisome–organelle interactions. They co-defined their biochemical hallmarks and clarified the clinical spectrum from severe Zellweger syndrome to milder, later-onset phenotypes. The elucidation of how gene defects disturb peroxisomal metabolism, driving cellular dysfunction and organ pathology, translated into diagnostic approaches standard in the field and laid a foundation for targeted therapies.
Through influential publications (PubMed) and international collaborations, Waterham has shaped concepts of peroxisomal disorders as prototypical disorders of organelle biogenesis, impacting diagnosis, counseling, and management. His broader work establishes him as a leading expert in inherited metabolic disease and biochemical genetics.
Marc Fransen
The Laboratory of Peroxisome Biology and Intracellular Communication investigates how peroxisomes function as metabolic and redox signaling hubs and how their dysfunction contributes to cellular dysregulation and disease. We study how peroxisome-derived H₂O₂ regulates intracellular signaling through cysteine oxidation, with a particular focus on PRDX1-mediated redox relays and their impact on the cellular sulfenome and metabolome. Our research further explores the interplay between peroxisomal redox signaling and cellular processes such as pexophagy – the selective autophagic degradation of peroxisomes – and protein quality control, including the protective role of LONP2 in maintaining peroxisomal function. By integrating redox proteomics, metabolomics, cell biology, and disease-relevant models, we aim to uncover molecular mechanisms linking peroxisomal signaling to disease and identify potential therapeutic targets. An emerging research direction will investigate how viral infections perturb peroxisomal metabolism, redox signaling, and pexophagy, and how these alterations shape cellular responses to infection.
Bettina Warscheid
Prof. Dr. Bettina Warscheid heads the Chair of Biochemistry II at the Biocenter of the University of Würzburg, Germany. This renowned interdisciplinary research center brings together groups in biochemistry, biology, and medicine. Its scientific community includes Georg Nagel, recipient of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries leading to optogenetics.
The Warscheid group integrates mass spectrometry-based proteomics with biochemistry, cell biology, and computational approaches to investigate peroxisomal and mitochondrial proteome biogenesis and homeostasis. Key research areas include protein targeting and import, proteome remodeling, quality control, and regulation by signaling networks. In peroxisome biology, the group investigates protein import processes, organelle contact sites, spatial organization, and integration into the cellular organelle network. Combining quantitative and spatial proteomics, machine learning, and functional analyses, the team explores how protein localization and proteome remodeling shape organelle function and communication.
The Chair provides modern laboratories and hosts the bioMS technology platform, directed by Prof. Warscheid. Equipped with Orbitrap Astral and Orbitrap Ascend Tribrid mass spectrometers, bioMS connects expertise in mass spectrometry and bioinformatics across Würzburg and the surrounding region. Doctoral researchers benefit from interdisciplinary training and collaborative research at the interface of proteomics, biochemistry, organelle biology, and virology.
Eva Herker
The Herker lab studies the cell-biological and metabolic consequences of virus infection, focusing on host cell lipid droplets (LDs) and lipid metabolic pathways hijacked by positive-sense RNA viruses of the Flaviviridae family, the hepatitis C virus and the mosquito- and tick-borne orthoflaviviruses dengue, yellow fever, Zika, West Nile and TBEV. Current work addresses how viral proteins target spatially distinct LD subsets to support replication and assembly (DFG Research Unit FOR5815), how infection remodels the cellular lipidome, and which lipid metabolic enzymes can be exploited as antiviral targets. We combine quantitative shotgun lipidomics and organelle proteomics, RNAi and CRISPR screening of metabolic enzymes, and advanced imaging, confocal, super-resolution and correlative light and electron microscopy, across hepatocyte, neural and organoid infection models.
The lab is embedded in the Institute of Virology, which investigates zoonotic and emerging viruses in a tradition reaching back to the 1967 discovery of Marburg virus and operates BSL3 and BSL4 facilities. Founded in 1527, Philipps-Universität Marburg today hosts some 20,000 students in a classic German university town. Researchers benefit from a collaborative, international environment with excellent infrastructure and structured training programs at one of Germany’s olde.
Vivi Heine
Prof. Vivi Heine is Professor of Human Model Systems at Amsterdam UMC and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Group Leader and head of the Amsterdam UMC iPSC Core Facility. Her research focuses on developing advanced human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based models to understand disease mechanisms and translate biological insights into therapeutic strategies.
The Heine group has extensive expertise in human iPSC generation, genome engineering and differentiation into specialized cell types, as well as the development of advanced 2D and 3D human model systems. Within VirION, this expertise will be applied to generate genetically modified human iPSCs and iPSC-derived lung- and liver-like models to investigate virus–host interactions and the role of peroxisomal functions in viral infection.
Amsterdam UMC provides a multidisciplinary research environment and state-of-the-art infrastructure, including dedicated iPSC and CRISPR facilities, genomics, metabolomics, microscopy, cytometry and advanced imaging. This environment enables the development and application of physiologically relevant human models for mechanistic and translational research.
Lieve Naesens
Lieve Naesens is Professor at KU Leuven (Belgium) and heads a research team at its Rega Institute for Medical Research. She has >30 years of experience in antiviral drug development, from initial discovery to mechanistic and preclinical evaluation. She was involved in the discovery of the leading HIV drug tenofovir and has 290 publications including in Nature, PNAS, Journal of Virology and Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
The Naesens team (https://rega.kuleuven.be/cmt/ln/ ) focuses on innovative strategies to treat infections from influenza- and coronaviruses, two serious respiratory pathogens occurring in the form of seasonal or pandemic outbreaks. The team discovered lead inhibitors of viral entry and viral genome replication with unique mechanisms and relevance for pharmaceutical development. They also study host-directed strategies that are broadly applicable against different respiratory virus infections and directly suppress serious inflammatory disease in the human lungs. The research of team Naesens is highly interdisciplinary and involves collaborations with virologists, biochemists, immunologists, medicinal chemists and structural biologists. The work is supported by prestigious funding and has implications beyond antiviral drug design, since it also improves our understanding of the mechanisms that drive viral replication and pathogenesis.
Nicolas Locker
The Pirbright Institute (TPI) is a world-leading centre, and UK national capability, with a mission to study high-consequence livestock and zoonotic viruses to protect food and economy, and improve the wellbeing of both animals and people on a global scale. Empowered by over 150 scientists, Pirbright’s advancements in research, vaccine development, and diagnostic tests contribute to worldwide preparedness and responses to prevent, detect and control viral outbreaks.
At Pirbright, Nicolas Locker leads the Viral Stress Responses group and has developed a competitive research programme at the interface between Diseases, Virology and RNA biology. Trained in Biochemistry and Biophysics, his early work applied structural and biochemical approaches to characterise RNA-proteins interactions important for viral replication. Establishing his own lab at University of Surrey, his group unravelled new mechanisms contributing to the multifaceted regulation of gene expression by viruses, their impact on antiviral responses, focussing on economically important human and animal viruses. Since 2023 at Pirbright, his group applies ‘omics technologies, biochemical and advanced imaging tools to characterise how high-consequence livestock pathogens develop countermeasures to rewire stress pathways and evade host antiviral responses, focussing on the spatio-temporal control and redistribution of cellular contents to biocondensates, and their interplay with organelles.
Triana Amen
We are interested in how changes in cellular architecture drive metabolic adaptation. My lab develops cell biological approaches and genetic tools to deepen our mechanistic understanding of inherited rare disorders and uncover the molecular mechanisms that govern cellular compartmentalization. We have developed first-in-class live-cell imaging probes for visualizing peroxisomes. These tools are now available to the wider research community and are being further developed as diagnostic tools for rare disorders. We are committed to training the next generation of scientists to investigate fundamental principles of organelle formation and function. By combining discovery-led research with technological innovation, we aim to translate fundamental insights into meaningful advances in our understanding of peroxisomal disorders.
Sebe Myeni
Dr. Sebenzile Myeni is an Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator at the Leiden University Center for Infectious Diseases (LUCID), Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), the Netherlands.
Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of viral infection, host-virus interactions, immune evasion, and antiviral immunity. Ongoing work investigates how emerging and highly pathogenic RNA viruses, particularly coronaviruses, reprogram host membranes and alter lipid metabolism, and how these changes influence innate immune responses and disease outcomes. Her laboratory combines molecular virology, cell biology, immunology, multi-omics approaches, and preclinical infection models to investigate viral pathogenesis and host defence mechanisms, with the ultimate goal of identifying novel antiviral targets and advancing therapeutic and vaccination strategies.
LUCID integrates fundamental, translational, and clinical research to advance the understanding, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseases. Its research is supported by advanced infrastructure, including dedicated Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) facilities.
Within the VIRION Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network, Dr. Myeni contributes expertise in molecular virology and host-pathogen interactions, supervising doctoral research on peroxisome remodelling and its interplay with virus-induced membrane structures during infection.
Vitor Gaspar
Cellularis Biomodels leverages on advanced bioengineering technologies to research and produce physiomimetic human-based 3D disease models in vitro with a focus in screening candidate therapies in the pre-clinical phase. By integrating proprietary bioengineering technologies with application-driven assay development, Cellularis helps partners generate more informative and translatable data earlier in drug development. Its mission is to reduce dependence on poorly predictive experimental models, support more confident candidate selection, and accelerate the development of safer, more effective therapies through innovative, human-relevant alternatives to animal testing.