Principal Investigator

Antoni is a structural and molecular biologist, a group leader at the Department of Biochemistry of the University of Oxford, and a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow. He is also a Research Fellow in Biochemistry at St John’s College.

Antoni started his group in late 2024 at the Oxford Biochemistry Department. This is also where he read his undergraduate degree (in Corpus Christi College), doing Part II focused on HIV with Chris Scanlan. He then moved to Cambridge as a Wellcome Trust Infection and Immunity scholar to read PhD (in Churchill College) at the lab of David Owen FRS . Here, he focused on understanding molecular mechanisms of endocytic proteins using mainly crystallography. He then went to the Francis Crick Institute in London for a postdoc with Steve Gamblin FRS and Sir John Skehel FRS, where he studied viral fusion proteins with cryoEM before moving back to Oxford.

Senior Scientist

Snezana joined the Wrobel lab at its inception, but she worked at the Oxford Biochemistry Department and the Oxford Glycobiology Institute before, first at the Scanlan Lab, then the Crispin Lab, and the Zitzmann Lab. She is a molecular biologist and a protein biochemist and the world-class expert when it comes to working with difficult glycoproteins.

DPhil Student (co-supervised, first supervisor: Jason Schnell)

Laurentien is interested in tracking down the molecular mechanisms that govern the assembly of viruses. By studying protein-lipid interactions, he hopes to improve our understanding of the Influenza virus. For this purpose, he applies a range of biophysical and structural techniques from nanoDSF and SPR to X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy.
Outside of the lab, he takes a keen interest in visual arts and their role for communication in science and beyond.

DPhil Student

Benjamin was born in Germany where he also studied Molecular Cell Biology and Immunology. His main research interests lie in structural and computational biology. In the Wrobel lab, he is leveraging NMR, cryo-EM and other biophysical methods to understand the interactions of viral glycoproteins with their receptors.

Postdoc

Hi 👋 I’m Nanki, a post-doc in the Wrobel lab. I am interested in using cryo-electron microscopy to study viral proteins against various receptors to understand some of the fundamental mechanisms that occur as a result of viral evolution. Previously, I did my PhD at Imperial College London. I studied the evolution of bacterial flagellar motor using cryo-electron tomography.

DPhil Student 

Rupa was born in Singapore and moved to Oxford where she completed an MBiochem in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry. She completed her master’s thesis and worked as a laboratory research scientist at the RNA Virus Replication Laboratory (Bauer Lab) at the Francis Crick Institute where she trained as a molecular virologist, specializing in coronavirus reverse genetics. In the Wrobel lab, she is using NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM, and other biophysical techniques to understand how coronavirus glycoproteins interact with the cell surfaces of host species. 

MSc Student

I study innate immunity responses to viral infection. Outside of work, I enjoy watching horror/thriller films, playing the guitar, and exploring new trails with friends.