Dr Andrés Guillén Samander
From 2019 to 2020 we have been supporting Dr. Andrés Guillén Samander, who conducted his doctoral research at Yale University and is now continuing his scientific career at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg.
His fellowship was awarded by Professor Dr. Pietro De Camilli, who received the Jung Gold Medal for Medicine in 2019. This prestigious award includes a fellowship currently valued at €30,000, which may be granted to an early-career scientist of the awardee’s choice.
Andrés Guillén Samander first met Professor De Camilli during his PhD studies at Yale University in 2016 and joined his research group in 2017, focusing on lipid transfer processes between organelles. After receiving the Jung Foundation fellowship in 2019, he embarked on the study of VPS13D, a previously uncharacterized protein that had been identified as essential for mammalian cell survival. Mutations in the VPS13D gene are associated with severe neurodegenerative disorders, including movement disorders resembling ataxia.
Deciphering lipid transfer mechanisms between organelles
With the support of the Jung Foundation, Dr. Guillén Samander made a groundbreaking discovery regarding VPS13D’s function as a hydrophobic bridge between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria, facilitating bulk lipid transfer between these organelles. This process is critical for mitochondrial homeostasis and the completion of key lipid biosynthesis pathways. Although the importance of lipid transfer in this context had been long suspected, the precise mechanism remained unknown until his research. His findings were published in The Journal of Cell Biology and were selected for the journal’s special collection The Year in Cell Biology: 2021.
New directions: Targeting lipid transfer in malaria parasites
After completing his PhD at Yale University, Dr. Guillén Samander transitioned to the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, where he is applying his expertise in lipid transfer mechanisms to study the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. His research focuses on lipid transport proteins that are essential for parasite development in human red blood cells. By elucidating their function, he aims to identify potential therapeutic targets that could block lipid transfer and disrupt the parasite’s life cycle, paving the way for novel malaria treatments.
Dr. Guillén Samander’s research represents a significant contribution to our understanding of intracellular lipid transport and its implications for both neurodegenerative diseases and infectious diseases. We are proud to have supported his scientific journey and look forward to his future discoveries.