Profile of the supervisor
Prof. dr. Dirk Slotboom was trained as a chemist and did a PhD in microbiology. The group of Slotboom now combines biophysical (X-ray crystallography, spectroscopy), biochemical (membrane enzymology) and microbiological methods to study the mechanisms of solute transport across membranes. He has made major contributions in elucidating the mechanism of the secondary-active (ion/coupled) glutamate/aspartate transporters and is a pioneer and leading scientist in the study of a novel and widespread class of ATP-binding cassette transporters.
Expertise
His group focuses on families of proteins that show unique dynamical behavior in lipid bilayers, which will allow to derive generic insight in the physical chemistry of membranes. In addition, in collaboration with organic chemists, small molecules are developed that inhibit the transport activity of bacterial transporters, with the aim to discover novel bactericidal or bacteriostatic compounds.
Profile of the research group
Slotboom’s research groups currently hosts 4 postdoctoral researchers, 6 PhD students, and 1 technician. In addition many MSc students choose to do their 6-9 month research projects in the group (currently four students).
