Biography:

Sophia Breusegem obtained her PhD in Biophysics and Computational Biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, studying protein-protein interactions in C. elegans muscle attachment structures using two-photon excitation FRET and FLIM microscopy. For her first postdoc she moved to Denver, Colorado, where she investigated the regulation of renal and intestinal sodium/phosphate cotransporters in the laboratory of Prof. Moshe Levi. She then joined the University of Cambridge as a research associate in Matthew Seaman’s lab where she carried out a genome-wide siRNA screen to uncover new proteins acting in endosomal trafficking and worked on characterizing their roles in model cargo trafficking and in processing of amyloid precursor protein. Moving on to Delphine Larrieu’s lab in Cambridge she carried out the first genome-wide arrayed CRISPR screen in a progeria cell model, discovering a role for protein translation in the progeroid cells. In October 2022 she joined Vito Mennella’s lab in the MRC Toxicology unit at the University of Cambridge where she is developing fluorescence microscopy methods to evaluate human airway epithelial cell structure and function, with the aim of using these methods to assess the molecular mechanisms of toxicant effects on airway epithelial health.

Research interests:

My interest lies in applying quantitative fluorescence microscopy methods to human cell biology processes related to human health.