New research Group Leaders join the Earlham Institute

24 November 2022
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The front of the Earlham Institute building

The Earlham Institute is delighted to announce the appointments of Dr Edyta Wojtowicz and Dr Ruben Garrido-Oter as new research Group Leaders.

Dr Wojtowicz is currently based in the Macaulay Group at the Earlham Institute and Dr Garrido-Oter will join from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Germany. They will both take up the posts in early 2023.

Professor Neil Hall, Director of the Earlham Institute, said: “We’re delighted to be able to support Edyta and Ruben in establishing groups at the Earlham Institute. It’s fantastic for us to see future leaders in their field coming both from within the Institute and internationally-recognised organisations overseas.”

Dr Edyta Wojtowicz is a molecular haematologist with a particular interest in platelet biology. As a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr Iain Macaulay’s Group, she has been working to improve the understanding of platelet production in health and disease. 

After completing an MSc in Medical Biotechnology at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Dr Wojtowicz studied for a PhD in Molecular Medicine at the University Medical Centre, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, as a Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher. During her PhD, she worked with Professor Gerald de Haan and Dr Leonid Bystrykh on cellular and molecular characterisation of the miR-125 family in normal and malignant haematopoiesis.
 

New Group Leader, Dr Edyta Wojtowicz, pictured in the atrium of the Earlham Institute

Newly appointed Group Leader, Dr Edyta Wojtowicz

Subsequently, she was a Barncancerfonden Postdoctoral Fellow working with Professor Sten Eirik Jacobsen at the Karolinska Institute, performing quantitative clonal studies of perturbed and unperturbed haematopoiesis using new methods to quantitatively study kinetic changes in clonal contribution of haematopoietic stem cells.

Dr Wojtowicz said: “I’m excited to take up this opportunity. The Earlham Institute has been the ideal environment to move my research forward and it’s fantastic to be able to build on those existing links as I establish my group.

“My group will be studying the impact of dietary intervention on hematopoietic and immune system function in health and disease. In particular, I want to investigate how molecular, metabolic and microbiome changes can shape the fitness of both systems. My research interests synergise with both the Institute’s and Park’s focus on technology development, large omics data integration and microbiome studies.”
 

Newly appointed Group Leader Dr Ruben Garrido-Oter in the atrium at the Earlham Institute

Newly appointed Group Leader Dr Ruben Garrido-Oter

Dr Garrido-Oter currently leads the Integrative Bioinformatics group at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Germany. The group is developing and employing computational tools and reductionist experimental systems to understand the evolutionary and ecological principles that govern the structure and dynamics of complex microbial communities. 

He studied computer sciences at the Technical University of Berlin before joining the Max Planck Institute in 2012. His research has focused on identifying the principles that govern microbiota establishment, stability and dynamics, along with how adaptation occurs in a community context.

Dr Garrido-Oter said: “I’m really pleased to be joining the Earlham Institute. The infrastructure, technology, and active community of plant and microbial scientists make this an ideal place for me to continue my work. 

“I’ll be exploring the inner workings of microbial communities. I’m particularly interested in those that associate with photosynthetic organisms, such as land plants and terrestrial microalgae, which complements the research interests of scientists both at the Earlham Institute and also across the Norwich Research Park.”

 

 

Notes to editors.

For more information, please contact:

Greg Bowker, Head of Communications, Earlham Institute (EI)

 +44 (0)1603 450 895 / greg.bowker@earlham.ac.uk

About the Earlham Institute

The Earlham Institute (EI) is a world-leading research institute focusing on the development of genomics and computational biology. EI is based within the Norwich Research Park and is one of eight institutes that receive strategic funding from Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC) - £6.45M in 2015/2016 - as well as support from other research funders. EI operates a National Capability to promote the application of genomics and bioinformatics to advance bioscience research and innovation.

EI offers a state of the art DNA sequencing facility, unique by its operation of multiple complementary technologies for data generation. The Institute is a UK hub for innovative bioinformatics through research, analysis and interpretation of multiple, complex data sets. It hosts one of the largest computing hardware facilities dedicated to life science research in Europe. It is also actively involved in developing novel platforms to provide access to computational tools and processing capacity for multiple academic and industrial users and promoting applications of computational Bioscience. Additionally, the Institute offers a training programme through courses and workshops, and an outreach programme targeting key stakeholders, and wider public audiences through dialogue and science communication activities.

www.earlham.ac.uk