Lauren Sara McKee

Check out our group webpage: https://stockholmcazyme.com/! There you'll find details on current group members, project information, and regular news updates on our activities!

Background:

Since November 1st 2024 I am Associate Professor of Cell Wall Biochemistry at the KTH Division of Glycoscience. I am principal investigator for the Stockholm CAZyme group! And, since January 2023, I am a vice-director for the Wallenberg Wood Science Centre PhD Academy.

I advised Stockholm's 2018 gold medal-winning iGEM team, who won Best Environment Project and Best Integrated Human Practices. I tweet sometimes about science, academia, and books. I have written popular science articles about everything from environmental protection to medical biotechnology. I have learned how to commercialise some of my research with help from a mentor scheme you can read about at this link. And together with my colleague Amparo Jimenez Quero I took part in the KTH Innovation Pre-Incubator programme - click here to read a short article about that initiative!

Teaching:

I teach Master's and Doctoral students about industrial and environmental microbiology and biotechnology, focussing on skills development, sustainability, and systems thinking. Much of my teaching relates to glycoscience - what are the roles of complex carbohydrates in human health, the natural environment, plant pathogenesis, and sustainable fuel/materials production?

Research:

My research is supported by the Swedish Research Council Vetenskapsrådet (VR), the Swedish Research Council for Sustainability Formas, the Swedish Energy Agency Energimyndigheten (EM), the Wallenberg Wood Science Centre (WWSC), and Carl Tryggers Stiftelsen. You can read details on all of my group's research funding at this link.

My research relates to many aspects of sustainable development, including food security, environmental protection, natural resource use, and sustainable forestry and agriculture. My major area of interest is enzyme discovery in the context of microbial degradation of complex biopolymers in natural and industrial settings, with implications for the bioenergy, biomaterials, and biocontrol sectors. You can read about all of my group's current research themes at this link.

I am proud that some recent projects have been formally recognised for their sustainable impact. Our hydrogels research was highlighted on the IVA Top 100 List for 2022, which had the theme of recognising "research in the service of humanity." You can read about this work in a blog I wrote and in an earlier article in the publication Tidningen Extrakt (in Swedish). You can also check this article for info on a WWSC project I supervised, which was recognised on the IVA Top 100 List for 2021, and is now being commercialised by the startup company Reselo AB, co-founded by my former postdoc Thomas Baumgarten.

Key publications:

Structural and biochemical analysis of family 92 carbohydrate-binding modules uncovers multivalent binding to β-glucans.Nature Communications (2024)

Multiple enzymatic approaches to hydrolysis of fungal β-glucans by the soil bacteriumChitinophaga pinensis.The FEBS Journal (2023)

Polysaccharide degradation by the Bacteroidetes — mechanisms and nomenclature. Environmental Microbiology Reports (2021)

Exploring the potential for fungal antagonism and cell wall attack by Bacillus subtilis natto. Frontiers in Microbiology (2020)

Focussed metabolism of β-glucans by the soil Bacteroidetes Chitinophaga pinensis. Applied and Environmental Microbiology (2019)

A discrete genetic locus confers xyloglucan metabolism in select human gut Bacteroidetes. Nature (2014)

Introducing endo-xylanase activity into an exo-acting arabinofuranosidase that targets side chains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (2012)

Current group members:

• Pakinee Thianheng - PhD student, since June 2023.
• Simon Schuldt - autumn 2024. Erasmus exchange student from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.
• Niendy Virnanda Fatmawati - visiting PhD student from King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), Thailand.
• Christian Bleck - research intern, autumn 2024.

Alumni:

• Ioanna Sapouna - PhD student, main supervisor since April 2021.Graduated June 2023.
• He Li - post-doctoral scientist, April 2021 - October 2023.
• Rasmus Gustafsson - research intern, summer 2023. Master's thesis student, spring 2023. Co-supervised by He Li.
• Felise Elemia Freire - research intern, summer 2023. Master's thesis student, spring 2023. Co-supervised by Rajib Sinha.
• Mengshu Hao - post-doctoral scientist, September 2020 - June 2023.
• Lova Sandin - research intern, summer 2022. Master's thesis student, spring 2022. Co-supervised by He Li.
• Vasiliki Makrygianni - research intern, summer 2022. Master's thesis student, spring 2022. Co-supervised by He Li.
• Alma Kvammen - research engineer, October 2021 - August 2022.
• Yi-Hsuan Lee - research intern, summer 2021. Master's thesis student, spring 2021.
• Elin Wedin Kvick - research intern, summer 2021. Master's thesis student, spring 2023.
• Srijani Saha - research intern, summer 2021.
• Zijia Lu - research intern, summer 2019. Master's thesis student, September 2019 - February 2021.
• Hugo Hammar - research intern, summer 2020.
• Helena Andersson - research intern, summer 2020.
• Thomas Baumgarten - post-doctoral scholar, October 2018 - August 2020.
• Rahele Panahabadi - visiting PhD student from Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran. October 2019 - July 2020.
• Katharine King - research intern, summer 2019.
• Anna Schönbichler - research intern, summer 2019. Master's thesis student, spring 2019.

Other Master's thesis students supervised:

• Erik Estreen - Master's thesis student, spring 2024.
• Malcolm Halvarsson - autumn 2023-spring 2024.
• Theresa Schaufler - autumn 2022-spring 2024. Erasmus exchange student from BOKU, Vienna. Co-supervised by Rajib Sinha.
• Ida Ristola - spring 2023. Co-supervised by He Li and Mengshu Hao.
• Beatriz Monteiro Coelho - autum 2021-spring 2022. Erasmus exchange from Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal. Co-supervised by Mengshu Hao.
• Amrutha Seshadri - September 2020 - September 2021.
• Emelie Heidling - spring 2022. Co-supervised by Ioanna Sapouna.
• Kasane Suzuki - autumn 2021. Exchange student from Tokyo Tech, Japan. Co-supervised by Amparo Jimenez Quero and He Li.
• Lovisa Brandt - spring-summer 2021.
• Tom Svesse - spring 2021. Co-supervised by Amparo Jimenez Quero.
• Ossian Ericson - spring 2021. Co-supervised by Mengshu Hao.
• Ellen Tideholm - spring 2021.
• Carl Rämgård - spring 2020.
• İrem Ergenlioğlu - spring 2020.
• Benjamin Fridh - spring 2020.
• Josefin Kask - spring 2019.

Co-supervised PhD students:

• Chloe Rantzos, Chalmers Industrial Biotechnology. Main supervisor Ass Prof Amparo Jimenez Quero.
• Alex Leman, Chalmers Industrial Biotechnology. Main supervisor Ass Prof Amparo Jimenez Quero.
• Facundo Ortega, Chalmers Industrial Biotechnology. Main supervisor Assoc Prof Johan Larsbrink.
• Nataliia Rymyk, KTH Glycoscience. Main supervisor Assoc Prof Francisco Vilaplana.
• Carl Rämgård, KTH Glycoscience. Main supervisor Assoc Prof Francisco Vilaplana.
• Zsuzsanna Péter-Szabó, KTH Glycoscience. Main supervisor Assoc Prof Francisco Vilaplana.
• Tove Widén, Chalmers Industrial Biotechnology. Main supervisor Assoc Prof Johan Larsbrink.
• Andrea Seveso, Chalmers Industrial Biotechnology. Main supervisor Assoc Prof Johan Larsbrink.Graduated September 2023.
• Salla Koskela, KTH Glycoscience. Main supervisor Prof Qi Zhou.Graduated June 2022.
• Stefan Klinter, KTH Glycoscience. Main supervisor Prof Vincent Bulone.Graduated November 2021.
• Paul Dahlin, KTH Glycoscience/Stockholm University DEEP. Main supervisor Prof Vincent Bulone.Graduated January 2017.