Thornton Fokkens  

Position: Postdoc

Home town: Christchurch, New Zealand

Freetime favorites: spending time with good mates at a sunny beach in NZ

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I studied biochemistry at the University of Otago in New Zealand, where I obtained my BSc and MSc degrees. During my MSc I conducted research into E3 ligase regulation under the supervision of Prof. Catherine Day. I then became an employee in the same group, allowing me to gain experience solving protein structures with X-ray crystallography. I wanted to continue research in the ubiquitin field but with a change of scenery, so in 2020 I moved to Germany to join the Lorenz lab as a PhD candidate. Focussing on the regulation of the virulence factor TKUL – a bifunctional kinase-ubiquitin ligase – from Leishmania parasites, I recently graduated. At present, I am continuing this exciting project as a postdoc in our research group.