Dr. S.K. (Sebenzile) Myeni, PhD

I obtained my PhD in Biological Sciences from Purdue University, USA, focused on how Salmonella typhimurium interacts with the host. I then joined the lab of Prof. Jean Celli as a postdoctoral fellow at NIH, USA, and worked on understanding how intracellular vacuolar pathogens exploit cellular functions to generate niches of replication. I moved to the field of virology and continued my postdoctoral training in infectious diseases at the University Hospital Frankfurt, Germany. In 2018, I joined the Molecular Virology group at LUMC, where I am focusing on coronavirus-host interactions, animal models for studying coronavirus infections and developing antiviral agents and vaccines. My group aims to unravel the cellular and molecular interactions between coronaviruses and lipid droplets (LDs) and LD-organelle interfaces. My hope is that this research will create platforms to guide the development of novel therapeutic targets to combat coronaviruses and other pathogens.

My group is intrigued by how pathogens modulate intracellular pathways and functions, such as secretory functions, lipid droplets and autophagy. We are interested in the molecular understanding of how intracellular pathogens like coronaviruses manipulate lipid droplets (LDs) and LD-organelle interfaces within the host cell to support their replication and lead to devasting disease outcomes. Using a multidisciplinary combination of virological, genetic, cell biology, mass spectrometry and biochemistry approaches, we focus on characterizing the mode of action and role of LD-associated proteins during infection and eventually in pathogenesis. The knowledge gained will be used to develop new drugs and vaccines. Through various EU-funded programs, ZonMw and CEPI my group is also involved in vaccine and antiviral efficacy studies.