Research OverviewOur research focuses on the cell and molecular biology of neuronal and cancer cells as well as the area of synthetic biology. Ongoing strands of research aim to investigate: 1. The mechanisms underlying neural circuit formation and function through the development of novel techniques to label and manipulate neurons in transgenic mice. 2. The roles of the alpha-actinin family of actin-crosslinking proteins at sysnapses and in cell biological processes relevant to cancer such as cell migration. 3. The physiological functions of the LNX family of proteins in the nervous system and their putative involvement in colorectal and brain cancer. 4. Employ protein engineering to develop novel biomaterials, biosensors and metabolic pathways in the context of synthetic biology. The methodologies that we employ include: mouse molecular genetics, gene assembly, directed evolution, confocal microscopy, protein:protein interaction technologies, biochemical asssays, immunohistochemistry and mouse behavioural assays.
Current Research Projects
Biography
Paul Young received his undergraduate degree in Biotechnology at National University of Ireland, Galway in 1996. He did his thesis work at European Molecular Biology Laboratory Heidelberg, Germany. There he worked with Prof. Mathias Gautel characterizing proteins that are involved in muscle contraction. He received his PhD for this work from NUI, Galway in 2000. For his postdoctoral work he switched to the field of Neuroscience and worked at Duke University in North Carolina with Prof. Guoping Feng funded by a Ruth K. Broad Biomedical Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. At Duke he studied the molecular mechanisms of synapse formation in the nervous system. He also developed a novel technique to genetically manipulate and monitor neurons in transgenic mice. He is currently a Senior Lecturer and Principal Investigator in the School of Biochemistry Cell Biology at University College Cork, Ireland.Research Interests
Research Overview
- Labeling and manipulating neurons to study synaptic connectivity in the nervous system
- Alpha-Actinin family of actin-crosslinking proteins
- LNX proteins
Publications
Book Chapters
Year | Publication | |
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(2018) | 'Actinin Family' Young P.W., Ajaykumar A.P. (2018) 'Actinin Family' In: Choi S (eds). Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules. Cham: Springer. [DOI] [Details] |
Peer Reviewed Journals
Year | Publication | |
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(2024) | 'A Yeast Modular Cloning (MoClo) Toolkit Expansion for Optimization of Heterologous Protein Secretion and Surface Display in Saccharomyces cerevisiae' O'Riordan NM;Juric V;O'Neill SK;Roche AP;Young PW; (2024) 'A Yeast Modular Cloning (MoClo) Toolkit Expansion for Optimization of Heterologous Protein Secretion and Surface Display in Saccharomyces cerevisiae'. ACS Synthetic Biology, 13 (4) [DOI] [Details] | |
(2021) | 'Platelet hyperactivation and hyporesponsiveness at diagnosis in multiple myeloma persists during treatment initiation' O'Sullivan LR;Meade-Murphy G;Gilligan OM;Mykytiv V;Cahill MR;Young PW; (2021) 'Platelet hyperactivation and hyporesponsiveness at diagnosis in multiple myeloma persists during treatment initiation'. Thrombosis Research, 203 [DOI] [Details] | |
(2021) | 'The Importance of Alpha-Actinin Proteins in Platelet Formation and Function, and Their Causative Role in Congenital Macrothrombocytopenia' O'Sullivan LR;Cahill MR;Young PW; (2021) 'The Importance of Alpha-Actinin Proteins in Platelet Formation and Function, and Their Causative Role in Congenital Macrothrombocytopenia'. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22 (17) [DOI] [Details] | |
(2020) | 'Regulated phase separation in nanopatterned protein-polysaccharide thin films by spin coating' Banta, R. A.; Collins, T. W.; Curley, R.; O’Connell, J.; Young, P. W.; Holmes, J. D.; Flynn, E. J. (2020) 'Regulated phase separation in nanopatterned protein-polysaccharide thin films by spin coating'. Colloids and Surfaces B-Biointerfaces, 190 :110967(1)-110967(11) [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
(2020) | 'Student-Produced Video of Role-Plays on Topics in Cell Biology and Biochemistry: A Novel Undergraduate Group Work Exercise' Young P.W. (2020) 'Student-Produced Video of Role-Plays on Topics in Cell Biology and Biochemistry: A Novel Undergraduate Group Work Exercise'. Frontiers In Education, 5 [DOI] [Details] | |
(2020) | 'Platelet hyperactivation in multiple myeloma is also evident in patients with premalignant monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance' O'Sullivan LR;Meade-Murphy G;Gilligan OM;Mykytiv V;Young PW;Cahill MR; (2020) 'Platelet hyperactivation in multiple myeloma is also evident in patients with premalignant monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance'. British Journal of Haematology, [DOI] [Details] | |
(2019) | 'Investigation of calmodulin-like and rod domain mutations suggests common molecular mechanism for alpha-actinin-1-linked congenital macrothrombocytopenia' O'Sullivan, LR;Ajaykumar, AP;Dembicka, KM;Murphy, A;Grennan, EP;Young, PW (2019) 'Investigation of calmodulin-like and rod domain mutations suggests common molecular mechanism for alpha-actinin-1-linked congenital macrothrombocytopenia'. Febs Letters, [DOI] [Details] | |
(2018) | 'LNX1/LNX2 proteins: functions in neuronal signalling and beyond' Young, PW (2018) 'LNX1/LNX2 proteins: functions in neuronal signalling and beyond'. Neuronal Signaling, 2 (2) [DOI] [Details] | |
(2018) | 'Nanopatterned protein-polysaccharide thin films by humidity regulated phase separation' Banta, R. A.; Collins, T. W.; Curley, R. A.; Young, P. W.; Holmes, J. D.; Flynn, E. (2018) 'Nanopatterned protein-polysaccharide thin films by humidity regulated phase separation'. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 532 :171-181 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
(2017) | 'Decreased anxiety-related behaviour but apparently unperturbed NUMB function in ligand of NUMB protein-X (LNX) 1/2 double knockout mice' Lenihan, Joan A.; Saha, Orthis; Heimer-McGinn, Victoria; Cryan, John F.; Feng, Guoping; Young, Paul W. (2017) 'Decreased anxiety-related behaviour but apparently unperturbed NUMB function in ligand of NUMB protein-X (LNX) 1/2 double knockout mice'. Molecular Neurobiology, 54 (10):8090-8109 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
(2017) | 'Building Bridges through Science' Lissek, T;Adams, M;Adelman, J;Ahissar, E;Akaaboune, M;Akil, H;al'Absi, M;Arain, F;Arango-Lasprilla, JC;Atasoy, D;Avila, J;Badawi, A;Bading, H;Baig, AM;Baleriola, J;Belmonte, C;Bertocchi, I;Betz, H;Blakemore, C;Blanke, O;Boehm-Sturm, P;Bonhoeffer, T;Bonifazi, P;Brose, N;Campolongo, P;Celikel, T;Chang, CC;Chang, TY;Citri, A;Cline, HT;Cortes, JM;Cullen, K;Dean, K;Delgado-Garcia, JM;Desroches, M;Disterhoft, JF;Dowling, JE;Draguhn, A;El-Khamisy, SF;El Manira, A;Enam, SA;Encinas, JM;Erramuzpe, A;Esteban, JA;Farinas, I;Fischer, E;Fukunaga, I;Gabilondo, I;Ganten, D;Gidon, A;Gomez-Esteban, JC;Greengard, P;Grinevich, V;Gruart, A;Guillemin, R;Hariri, AR;Hassan, B;Hausser, M;Hayashi, Y;Hussain, NK;Jabbar, AA;Jaber, M;Jahn, R;Janahi, EM;Kabbaj, M;Kettenmann, H;Kindt, M;Knafo, S;Kohr, G;Komai, S;Krugers, H;Kuhn, B;Ghazal, NL;Larkum, ME;London, M;Lutz, B;Matute, C;Martinez-Millan, L;Maroun, M;McGaugh, J;Moustafa, AA;Nasim, A;Nave, KA;Neher, E;Nikolich, K;Outeiro, T;Palmer, LM;Penagarikano, O;Perez-Otano, I;Pfaff, DW;Poucet, B;Rahman, AU;Ramos-Cabrer, P;Rashidy-Pour, A;Roberts, RJ;Rodrigues, S;Sanes, JR;Schaefer, AT;Segal, M;Segev, I;Shafqat, S;Siddiqui, NA;Soreq, H;Soriano-Garcia, E;Spanagel, R;Sprengel, R;Stuart, G;Sudhof, TC;Tonnesen, J;Trevino, M;Uthman, BM;Venter, JC;Verkhratsky, A;Weiss, C;Wiesel, TN;Yaksi, E;Yizhar, O;Young, LJ;Young, P;Zawia, NH;Zugaza, JL;Hasan, MT (2017) 'Building Bridges through Science'. Neuron, 96 :730-735 [DOI] [Details] | |
(2017) | 'Proteomic analysis reveals novel ligands and substrates for LNX1 E3 ubiquitin ligase' Lenihan JA;Saha O;Young PW; (2017) 'Proteomic analysis reveals novel ligands and substrates for LNX1 E3 ubiquitin ligase'. Plos One, 12 (11) [DOI] [Details] | |
(2016) | 'Congenital macrothrombocytopenia-linked mutations in the actin-binding domain of alpha-actinin-1 enhance F-actin association' Murphy, ACH;Lindsay, AJ;McCaffrey, MW;Djinovic-Carugo, K;Young, PW (2016) 'Congenital macrothrombocytopenia-linked mutations in the actin-binding domain of alpha-actinin-1 enhance F-actin association'. Febs Letters, 590 :685-695 [DOI] [Details] | |
(2016) | 'Psg22 null mouse embryos develop normally under normoxic and hypoxic conditions of pregnancy' Williams JM, Bezak T, Das M, Ning Z, Lucking EF, Kelly VP, Harrison P, Young P, O'Connell MJ, Dockery P, O'Halloran KD, Moore T. (2016) 'Psg22 null mouse embryos develop normally under normoxic and hypoxic conditions of pregnancy'. 10.19185/matters.201611000023 [Details] | |
(2015) | 'The actinin family of actin cross-linking proteins - a genetic perspective' Murphy AC, Young PW (2015) 'The actinin family of actin cross-linking proteins - a genetic perspective'. Cell & bioscience, 5 [DOI] [Details] | |
(2014) | 'The non-muscle functions of actinins: an update' Foley KS, Young PW (2014) 'The non-muscle functions of actinins: an update'. The Biochemical Journal, 459 (1):1-13 [DOI] [Details] | |
(2014) | 'Tight, cell type-specific control of LNX expression in the nervous system, at the level of transcription, translation and protein stability' Lenihan, JA;Saha, O;Mansfield, LM;Young, PW (2014) 'Tight, cell type-specific control of LNX expression in the nervous system, at the level of transcription, translation and protein stability'. Gene, 552 :39-50 [DOI] [Details] | |
(2013) | 'Decreased dendritic spine density as a consequence of tetanus toxin light chain expression in single neurons in vivo' Heimer-McGinn, V;Murphy, ACH;Kim, JC;Dymecki, SM;Young, PW (2013) 'Decreased dendritic spine density as a consequence of tetanus toxin light chain expression in single neurons in vivo'. Neuroscience Letters, 555 :36-41 [DOI] [Details] | |
(2013) | 'An analysis of splicing, actin-binding properties, heterodimerization and molecular interactions of the non-muscle alpha-actinins' Foley, KS;Young, PW (2013) 'An analysis of splicing, actin-binding properties, heterodimerization and molecular interactions of the non-muscle alpha-actinins'. The Biochemical Journal, 452 :477-488 [DOI] [Details] | |
(2011) | 'Molecular evolution of the LNX gene family' Flynn, M,Saha, O,Young, P; (2011) 'Molecular evolution of the LNX gene family'. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 11 [DOI] [Details] | |
(2011) | 'The role of endosomal-recycling in long-term potentiation' Kelly, EE;Horgan, CP;McCaffrey, MW;Young, P (2011) 'The role of endosomal-recycling in long-term potentiation'. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 68 :185-194 [DOI] [Details] | |
(2011) | 'Efficient inducible Pan-neuronal cre-mediated recombination in SLICK-H transgenic mice' Heimer-McGinn, V,Young, P (2011) 'Efficient inducible Pan-neuronal cre-mediated recombination in SLICK-H transgenic mice'. Genesis, 49 :942-949 [DOI] [Details] | |
(2008) | 'Single-neuron labeling with inducible Cre-mediated knockout in transgenic mice' Young P, Qiu L, Wang D, Zhao S, Gross J, Feng G; (2008) 'Single-neuron labeling with inducible Cre-mediated knockout in transgenic mice'. Nature Neuroscience, 11 (6):721-728 [DOI] [Details] | |
(2007) | 'Regulation of synaptic growth and maturation by a synapse-associated E3 ubiquitin ligase at the neuromuscular junction' Lu, Z.,Je, H. S.,Young, P.,Gross, J.,Lu, B.,Feng, G.; (2007) 'Regulation of synaptic growth and maturation by a synapse-associated E3 ubiquitin ligase at the neuromuscular junction'. J Cell Biol, 177 (6):1077-89 [Details] | |
(2005) | 'LNX1 is a perisynaptic Schwann cell specific E3 ubiquitin ligase that interacts with ErbB2' Young P., Nie J, Wang X, McGlade CJ, Rich MM, Feng G.; (2005) 'LNX1 is a perisynaptic Schwann cell specific E3 ubiquitin ligase that interacts with ErbB2'. Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, 30 (2):238-248 [Details] | |
(2004) | 'Labeling neurons in vivo for morphological and functional studies' Young, P.,Feng, G.; (2004) 'Labeling neurons in vivo for morphological and functional studies'. Curr Opin Neurobiol, 14 (5):642-6 [Details] | |
(2002) | 'The spectrin repeat: a structural platform for cytoskeletal protein assemblies' Djinovic-Carugo, K.,Gautel, M.,Ylanne, J.,Young, P.; (2002) 'The spectrin repeat: a structural platform for cytoskeletal protein assemblies'. FEBS Lett, 513 (1):119-23 [Details] | |
(2001) | 'Obscurin, a giant sarcomeric Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor protein involved in sarcomere assembly' Young, P.,Ehler, E.,Gautel, M.; (2001) 'Obscurin, a giant sarcomeric Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor protein involved in sarcomere assembly'. J Cell Biol, 154 (1):123-36 [Details] | |
(2001) | 'Crystal Structure of the alpha-Actinin Rod Reveals an Extensive Torsional Twist' Ylanne, J.,Scheffzek, K.,Young, P.,Saraste, M.; (2001) 'Crystal Structure of the alpha-Actinin Rod Reveals an Extensive Torsional Twist'. Structure (Camb), 9 (7):597-604 [Details] | |
(2000) | 'The interaction of titin and alpha-actinin is controlled by a phospholipid-regulated intramolecular pseudoligand mechanism' Young P and Gautel M.; (2000) 'The interaction of titin and alpha-actinin is controlled by a phospholipid-regulated intramolecular pseudoligand mechanism'. The EMBO Journal, 19 :6331-6340 [Details] | |
(1999) | 'Control of sarcomeric assembly: the flow of information on titin' Gautel, M.,Mues, A.,Young, P.; (1999) 'Control of sarcomeric assembly: the flow of information on titin'. Rev Physiol Biochem Pharmacol, 138 :97-137 [Details] | |
(1999) | 'Structure of the alpha-actinin rod: molecular basis for cross-linking of actin filaments' Djinovic-Carugo, K.,Young, P.,Gautel, M.,Saraste, M.; (1999) 'Structure of the alpha-actinin rod: molecular basis for cross-linking of actin filaments'. Cell, 98 (4):537-46 [Details] | |
(1998) | 'Two immunoglobulin-like domains of the Z-disc portion of titin interact in a conformation-dependent way with telethonin' Mues, A.,van der Ven, P. F.,Young, P.,Furst, D. O.,Gautel, M.; (1998) 'Two immunoglobulin-like domains of the Z-disc portion of titin interact in a conformation-dependent way with telethonin'. FEBS Lett, 428 (1-2):111-4 [Details] | |
(1998) | 'Structural basis for activation of the titin kinase domain during myofibrillogenesis' Mayans, O.,van der Ven, P. F.,Wilm, M.,Mues, A.,Young, P.,Furst, D. O.,Wilmanns, M.,Gautel, M.; (1998) 'Structural basis for activation of the titin kinase domain during myofibrillogenesis'. Nature, 395 (6705):863-9 [Details] | |
(1998) | 'Molecular structure of the sarcomeric Z-disk: two types of titin interactions lead to an asymmetrical sorting of alpha-actinin' Young P, Ferguson C, Banuelos S, Gautel M.; (1998) 'Molecular structure of the sarcomeric Z-disk: two types of titin interactions lead to an asymmetrical sorting of alpha-actinin'. The EMBO Journal, 17 :1614-1624 [Details] | |
(1997) | 'Constitutive and variable regions of Z-disk titin/connectin in myofibril formation: a dominant-negative screen' Peckham, M.,Young, P.,Gautel, M.; (1997) 'Constitutive and variable regions of Z-disk titin/connectin in myofibril formation: a dominant-negative screen'. Cell Struct Funct, 22 (1):95-101 [Details] |
Conference Publications
Year | Publication | |
---|---|---|
(2011) | EFFICIENT INDUCIBLE NEURON-SPECIFIC CRE-MEDIATED RECOMBINATION IN SLICK-H TRANSGENIC MICE Young, P,Heimer-Torres, V,Feng, G (2011) IRISH JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCE EFFICIENT INDUCIBLE NEURON-SPECIFIC CRE-MEDIATED RECOMBINATION IN SLICK-H TRANSGENIC MICE , pp.58-58 [Details] | |
(2011) | ANALYSIS OF LNX1 AND LNX2 EXPRESSION IN THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM Saha, O,Young, P (2011) IRISH JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCE ANALYSIS OF LNX1 AND LNX2 EXPRESSION IN THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM , pp.60-60 [Details] |
Professional Activities
Honours and Awards
Year | Title | Awarding Body | |
---|---|---|---|
2003 | Scholarship to attend the Neurobiology course at the Marine Biology Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. | Howard A. Schneiderman Endowed Scholarship and Surdna Foundation | |
2001 | Ruth K. Broad Biomedical Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship | Ruth K. Broad Biomedical Research Foundation |
Professional Associations
Association | Function | From / To | |
---|---|---|---|
Biochemical Society Member | Member | 01-JAN-11 / 31-DEC-15 | |
Neuroscience Ireland Communications Officer | Neuroscience Ireland Communications Officer | 01-JAN-13 / 31-DEC-14 | |
Federation of European Neuroscience Societies | Member | 01-JAN-09 / 01-JAN-15 | |
Neuroscience Ireland Board Member | Committee Member | 01-MAR-09 / 31-DEC-14 |
Conference Contributions
Year | Publication | |
---|---|---|
(2008) | Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) 6th Forum of European Neuroscience, Paul Young; (2008) Single-neuron labeling with inducible cre-mediated knockout in transgenic mice. [Oral Presentation], Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) 6th Forum of European Neuroscience, Geneva, Switzeerland , 01-JUL-08 - 01-JUL-08. [Details] | |
(2008) | Gordon Conference on Neural Ciruits and Disease, Paul Young; (2008) Single-neuron labeling with inducible cre-mediated knockout in transgenic mice. [Oral Presentation], Gordon Conference on Neural Ciruits and Disease, Oxford UK , 01-AUG-08 - 01-AUG-08. [Details] | |
(2006) | Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) 5th Forum of European Neuroscience, Paul Young; (2006) Single-neuron labeling with inducible cre-mediated knockout in transgenic mice. [Poster Presentation], Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) 5th Forum of European Neuroscience, Vienna, Austria , 08-JUL-06 - 12-JUL-06. [Details] | |
(2006) | Neuroscience Ireland, Inaugural Conference, Paul Young; (2006) Single-neuron labeling with inducible cre-mediated knockout in transgenic mice. [Poster Presentation], Neuroscience Ireland, Inaugural Conference, University College Cork, Ireland , 21-SEP-06 - 22-SEP-06. [Details] | |
(2005) | Society for Neuroscience (SfN) 35th Annual Meeting, Paul Young; (2005) LNX1 is a perisynaptic Schwann cell specific E3 ubiquitin ligase that interacts with ErbB2. [Oral Presentation], Society for Neuroscience (SfN) 35th Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, USA , 12-NOV-05 - 16-NOV-05. [Details] | |
(2005) | Society for Neuroscience (SfN) 35th Annual Meeting, Paul Young; (2005) Single-neuron labeling with inducible cre-mediated knockout in transgenic mice. [Oral Presentation], Society for Neuroscience (SfN) 35th Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, USA , 12-NOV-05 - 16-NOV-05. [Details] | |
(2002) | Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Paul Young; (2002) Functional characterisation of neuregulin cytoplasmic domain splice variants. [Oral Presentation], Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida, USA , 01-NOV-02 - 01-NOV-02. [Details] |
Committees
Committee | Function | From / To | |
---|---|---|---|
College of SEFS Teaching Learning and Student Experience Committee | School Representative | 2011 / | |
School Teaching , Learning and Curriculum Committee | Chair | 2014 / 2015 | |
UCC Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee | Member | 2013 / |
Employment
Employer | Position | From / To | |
---|---|---|---|
University College Cork | College Lecturer / Principal Investigator | 01-SEP-05 / | |
Duke University, Durham, USA | Postdoctoral Fellow | 01-JAN-01 / 01-JAN-05 | |
European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany | Postdoctoral Fellow | 01-JAN-01 / 01-JAN-05 |
Education
Year | Institution | Qualification | Subject | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1996 | National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland | BSc | Biotechnology | |
2000 | National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland | PhD | Mol. Biology |
Other Activities
Description | |
---|---|
Academic Mentor to UCC and Ireland's first team to participate in iGEM Synthetic Biology competition 2014 | |
Judge at the 2014 iGEM competition (International Genetically Engineered Machine competition in Synthetic Biology) |
Teaching Activities
Teaching Interests
I currently teach and/or coordinate the following modules:
- Introductory Cell Biology and Biomembranes (3rd year Biochemistry; module BC3003).
- Neuroscience (2nd year Medicine; module FM2101).
- Neuroscience (2nd year Graduate Entry Medicine; module GM2001).
- Bone Metabolism and Renal Mechanisms of Homeostasis (2nd year Medicine; module FM2102).
- Literature review module (3rd year Biochemistry; module BC3012)
- Biotechnology (4th year Biochemistry: module BC4017)
An outline of these courses and all courses taught by staff in the Department of Biochemistry are available at the UCC Book of Modules.
Recent Postgraduates
Graduation Year | Student Name | Institution | Degree Type | Thesis Title | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Louise Mansfield | UCC | MSc | INVESTIGATION OF LNX PROTEINS WITH REGARD TO STABILITY, TRANSLATIONAL CONTROL AND IN VIVO FUNCTIONS | |
2013 | Kate Foley | UCC | PhD | Characterisation of the non-muscle α-actinins | |
2013 | Orthis Saha | UCC | PhD | Investigation of the function of the LNX family of | |
2013 | Victoria Heimer-McGinn | UCC | PhD | Development and characterization of novel transgenic |
Research Information
Internal Collaborators
Name | Institute | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Tommie McCarthy | UCC | IRELAND | |
John Cryan | UCC | IRELAND |
External Collaborators
Name | Organisation / Institute | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Susan Dymecki | Dept of Genetics, Harvard University | U.S.A. | |
Manolis Fanto | King's College London | UNITED KINGDOM | |
Guoping Feng | MIT | U.S.A. |