Earlier this year, I had the incredible opportunity to experience the Nashville side of the Meiler Lab at Vanderbilt University with the help of a fellowship from the Max Kade Foundation. From May through March, I extended my master’s project on electron density in computer-aided drug design at this prestigious institution. The unique charm of the city, coupled with the stimulating environment at Vandy, truly enriched my experience. My master’s project centered on the importance of electron density in understanding how small molecules interact with target proteins. Existing computer-aided drug design tools typically use atom positions as a proxy for electron density, which limits their ability to accurately describe directional interactions. 

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This spring, I had the incredible opportunity to live and work in Nashville for a few months, thanks to the Max-Kade Foundation. Nashville truly embodies its spirit as “Music City” with its vibrant country culture and southern charm. Beyond the exceptional honky-tonks, Nashville is also known for its cutting-edge biomedical education and research at Vanderbilt University (VU) and the adjacent Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). My research focuses on targeted therapeutics to treat diseases more precisely and effectively. Using specific peptide ligands, these drugs target disease-relevant cells while leaving healthy cells unaffected. Coming from a background in biochemistry, it was enlightening to collaborate with Prof. Ray Harris’s lab at VUMC, allowing

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I knew my first trip to the US would be memorable, but I never imagined it would be this amazing. From the bustling streets of downtown Nashville to the serene lakeside at Hamilton Creek, the city is a sight to behold. Even more impressive was the cutting-edge research at Vanderbilt University (VU). As a junior scientist, it was thrilling to work with experts across various fields and deepen my understanding of pharmacodynamics in molecular biology. My PhD research focuses on the regulation of the NLRP3 inflammasome by PAR4. To address this, I aimed to learn techniques for proximal G protein signaling at the Hamm Lab at VU. Under the guidance of

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The Max Kade Foundation (MKF, www.maxkadefoundation.org) supports an international research exchange between Vanderbilt and Leipzig Universities. Specifically, MKF provides funds of three‐four undergraduate students from each university to conduct a 10 week summer internship at the respective partner university. Travel costs and a weekly stipend are provided. They target rising junior and rising senior students at Vanderbilt University. To select the recipients of the stipend, we collect research project descriptions from around twenty core laboratories that support the collaboration between Vanderbilt and Leipzig Universities. Descriptions are provided by the graduate student or post‐doctoral mentor who will advise the undergraduate student. It is encouraged that the undergraduate student conducts research on the

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It was the first time for me in the US and I had a lot of scientific and cultural experiences. Nashville is a vibrant city and definitely earns its name as “Music City”. Bars, live music, sports events… it does not get boring.  Besides that, Nashville is a growing place for cutting-edge biomedical research. Vanderbilt University (VU) hosts many groups working in this field and is nation-wide known for its research. For me as a young scientist, it was an invaluable experience to get insight into this institution. The aim of my Ph.D. project is the discovery of small molecule inhibitors against the Ovarian Tumor (OTU) Protease of the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic

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This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Nashville as part of my PhD project, collaborating with local scientists. Additionally, my internship coincided with attending the RosettaCon conference in Seattle, renowned for being one of the finest computational structural biology conferences. It boasted a multitude of captivating talks and provided a valuable chance to connect with fellow researchers. This trip also allowed me to participate in Meiler’s Lab retreat held in the breathtaking Great Smoky Mountains. My PhD research focuses on peptides, specifically designing therapeutic candidates using non-canonical amino acids. In Nashville, my primary goal was to explore the capabilities of existing software for designing peptides based on non-canonical

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During my stay in Leipzig, I worked under Felipe Engleberger to explore the potential for Large Language Models (LLMs) to answer scientific questions. Knowing that LLMs have created such an impact on everyday life through technologies such as ChatGPT, I was excited to contribute towards expanding their function to fulfill scientific tasks, yet like all research questions, executing is much easier said than done. To begin this endeavor, we focused on a specific task–exploring if we could empower a chat agent to find mutations to optimize the thermal stability of a protein, a common question in protein design. I was pretty new to the field of artificial intelligence; thus, I started

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BackgroundA previous postdoctoral research, in the Meiler Lab with 8 years of experience researching cholesterol interactions with membrane proteins. Research SummaryCholesterol is one of the most studied lipids as it relates to protein-lipid interactions. Cholesterol plays multiple biological roles in bile acid synthesis, steroidogenesis, and membrane dynamic function. Increasingly, evidence has shown that cholesterol also acts as a direct binder to IMPs, including G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). GPCRs are a protein superfamily containing seven transmembrane helices that are responsible for a wide variety of signaling responses. The seven helices form a hydrophobic pocket accessible from the extracellular side, forming the orthosteric pocket for endogenous ligands to bind to. The binding of

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Dear colleagues, we want to bring your attention to an announcement the chancellor and provost made earlier this week: Vanderbilt has launched a new Global Scholars in Residence program, which provides funding to faculty who wish to bring accomplished international scholars to campus to contribute to our intellectual community.  I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity. We are, fortunately, in a position now where travel restrictions have lifted and we can once again collaborate with colleagues abroad. The exchange of ideas across borders, disciplines, perspectives, and cultures is valuable to faculty and students alike, expanding our understanding and strengthening our research and discovery. Details about how to apply are

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Early in 2020 I started my Master Thesis by developing an evolutionary algorithm to optimize small molecules binding to protein targets of pharmaceutical interest. It was planned to start the project at Vanderbilt University in close cooperation with Rocco Moretti, the leading developer of small molecule code in the Rosetta Software suite. He is Assistant Professor in Jens Meilers group at VU. Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic struck, and the trip was canceled. This year, however, I got awarded another opportunity to travel to Vanderbilt for 8 weeks, now a PhD student and the initial project close to being published. Working closely together with Rocco Moretti and other Meiler lab scientist I

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My time in the US was full of new experiences both scientifically and culturally. It already started off with a bang when beginning of August I was able to join the Summer RosettaCon near Seattle. My first in-person contact with the Rosetta Commons did not only bring exciting new perspectives on protein design and structure prediction from the top researchers of the field, but also invaluable first hand input on my projects during the poster sessions. Fast forward and halfway through this vast country I started my own research in Nashville. With Vanderbilt University hosting an excellent biomolecular NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) facility, I planned to express and purify a Marburg

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This summer I had the opportunity to travel to Nashville on a Max-Kade Fellowship to participate in a joined research project between Vanderbilt University, the Vanderbilt Medical Center and Leipzig University. I was fortunate that my stay corresponded with the Summer RosettaCon 22 in the sleeping lady resort in Washington state. This gave me the opportunity to meet other structural biology enthusiasts in my first in person conference since the Covid pandemic and explore Seattle and the surrounding area. Luckily also the Meilerlab retreat gave me the opportunity to go to Florida and get to know my fellow lab members at Vanderbilt. At Vanderbilt I tried to learn as much about

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The Max Kade Foundation (MKF, www.maxkadefoundation.org) supports an international research exchange between Vanderbilt and Leipzig Universities. Specifically, MKF provides funds of three‐four undergraduate students from each university to conduct a 10 week summer internship at the respective partner university. Travel costs and a weekly stipend are provided. They target rising junior and rising senior students at Vanderbilt University. To select the recipients of the stipend, we collect research project descriptions from around twenty core laboratories that support the collaboration between Vanderbilt and Leipzig Universities. Descriptions are provided by the graduate student or post‐doctoral mentor who will advise the undergraduate student. It is encouraged that the undergraduate student conducts research on the

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The Max Kade Foundation (MKF, www.maxkadefoundation.org) supports an international research exchange between Vanderbilt and Leipzig Universities. Specifically, MKF provides funds of three‐four undergraduate students from each university to conduct a 10 week summer internship at the respective partner university. Travel costs and a weekly stipend are provided. They target rising junior and rising senior students at Vanderbilt University. To select the recipients of the stipend, we collect research project descriptions from around twenty core laboratories that support the collaboration between Vanderbilt and Leipzig Universities. Descriptions are provided by the graduate student or post‐doctoral mentor who will advise the undergraduate student. It is encouraged that the undergraduate student conducts research on the

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The Max Kade Foundation (MKF, www.maxkadefoundation.org) supports an international research exchange between Vanderbilt and Leipzig Universities. Specifically, MKF provides funds of three‐four undergraduate students from each university to conduct a 10 week summer internship at the respective partner university. Travel costs and a weekly stipend are provided. They target rising junior and rising senior students at Vanderbilt University. To select the recipients of the stipend, we collect research project descriptions from around twenty core laboratories that support the collaboration between Vanderbilt and Leipzig Universities. Descriptions are provided by the graduate student or post‐doctoral mentor who will advise the undergraduate student. It is encouraged that the undergraduate student conducts research on the

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(30/04/2018 by Anett Albrecht): A joint publication of Leipzig and Vanderbilt scientists was published in April 2018 in the prestigious journal “Nature”. The article continues the series of numerous publications that have emerged already from the long-term collaboration between the Leipzig and Vanderbilt University. Abstract: Neuropeptide Y (NPY) receptors belong to the G-protein-coupled receptor superfamily and have important roles in food intake, anxiety and cancer biology 1,2 . The NPY-Y receptor system has emerged as one of the most complex networks with three peptide ligands (NPY, peptide YY and pancreatic polypeptide) binding to four receptors in most mammals, namely the Y1, Y2, Y4 and Y5 receptors, with different affinity and selectivity 3

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[press release written by Susann Huster/Anett Albrecht, April 10, 2018] The cooperation between the University of Leipzig and Vanderbilt in Nashville (USA) has been contractually sealed for another ten years. A few days ago, the rectors of both universities signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The American Max Kade Foundation had previously approved an application for funding from project leaders Prof. Dr. Annette Beck-Sickinger from the Institute of Biochemistry at the Leipzig University and Prof. Dr. Jens Meiler from Vanderbilt University: The foundation will also support the exchange with 50,000 dollars (40,000 euros) per year between 2017 and 2021. “We hope that the already established excellent relations with Vanderbilt University will continue

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The joint publication of Hu, Stern, Gimenez, Wanka, Zhu, Rossi, Meister, Inoue, Beck-Sickinger, Gurevich and Wess was named as “Paper of the Week” by the Journal of Biological Chemistry’s editorial board, landing it in the top 2 percent of all papers published over the year in the journal. The joint publication focussed on designer receptors exclusively activated by a designer drug – short DREADDs. This are CNO sensitive designer G protein-coupled receptors which are able to activate heterotrimeric G proteins and also trigger arrestin-dependent signaling. In the present study the development of a mutationally modified version of a non-biased DREADD derived from the M3 muscarinic receptor that can activate Gq/11 with

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(Leipzig/Nashville, 02/03/2016): Scientists at Leipzig University and Vanderbilt University (USA) reduced the side effects of Indomethacin by altering the so-called boron cluster molecule of this drug. This molecule have a spherical shape – composed of boron, hydrogen and carbon atoms. The active ingredient causes an inhibition of the enzyme cyclooxygenase, which plays an important role in production of inflammations and pain. But Indomethacin also leads to severe side effects. The scientists changed the drug, so that it blocks only the pathological form of the enzyme. The other form, which controls important physiological processes in the body, would barely be affected. The results underline the potential of boron clusters in pharmacytical application

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(by David Salisbury, Vanderbilt University): Associate Professor of Chemistry Jens Meiler has received a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Bonn, Germany. The award is given to scholars based on their “outstanding research accomplishments and exceptional promise for the future.” Individuals are nominated by German scholars and must have received their Ph.D. in the last 18 years. In addition to a monetary prize, award winners are invited to spend a period of up to one year collaborating on a long-term research project. Meiler, who has an international reputation in the field of structural biology, will be collaborating with colleagues at Leipzig University on studies of

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