Janine Brunner

Janine Brunner is a group leader at the VIB-VUB Center for Structural Biology leading the lab Structure and Function of Membrane Proteins and Assistant Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel/Belgium.

She obtained her PhD in 2015 from the University of Zurich/Switzerland with structural and functional work on phospholipid scramblases in the TMEM16 family. It provided first atomic insight into the architecture and working mechanism of Ca2+-activated phospholipid scramblases and ion channels, and contributed significant new concepts in this field. During postdoc stays at Universities of Zurich, Basel and the Paul-Scherrer Institute/Switzerland she studied non-canonical lysosomal potassium channels associated with Parkinson, and has revealed how ion selectivity and gating is achieved in these newly discovered potassium channels.

In 2020 Janine started her own lab at the VIB-VUB Center for Structural Biology in Brussels, Belgium. Her team is focusing on the structural biology of membrane proteins, and their functional characterization. A major topic covers structural biology and biophysics of pharmacologically relevant ion channels. Her group is capitalizing from extensive experience in membrane protein biochemistry and structural biology and integrates methodologies such as patch-clamp and fluorescence microscopy to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the research subjects.

Janine’s efforts advanced the understanding in several membrane protein classes. She was invited twice to give a talk at the New and Notable sessions, prestigious platforms at the Biophysics Society Annual Meeting and European Biophysics Congress.