LAB MEMBERS

Milka Doktorova, PhD (Principal Investigator)

Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University

DDLS Fellow, Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab)

Email: milka.doktorova@dbb.su.se

Milka entered the field of membrane biophysics with a computational background and interest in solving biological problems. She completed her PhD training in Cornell University and Weill Cornell Medical College in the labs of Harel Weinstein and Gerald Feigenson. There, she used molecular dynamics simulations and wet lab experiments to study various aspects of membrane structure and dynamics with model systems. In her postdoc in the Levental Lab at University of Virginia she began applying these concepts to cultured cells to examine the functional organization of the lipids in cell plasma membranes. She has been at Stockholm University as part of the Data-Driven Life Science (DDLS) program since September 2024.

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Fred Heberle, PhD

Senior Researcher

Email: frederick.heberle@scilifelab.se ; fheberle@utk.edu

Fred received his PhD from Cornell University, where he studied phase separation in model membranes with Gerald Feigenson. That was followed by a postdoc with John Katsaras in the Neutron Sciences Division at Oak Ridge National Lab. At ORNL, Fred used innovative neutron contrast variation methods to investigate the three-dimensional organization of lipids in complex biomimetic membranes. As an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Fred has led efforts to develop cryo-EM as a tool for investigating nanoscale bilayer structure, and to uncover the molecular determinants of interleaflet coupling in asymmetric bilayers.

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Karan Sharma, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher

Email: karan.sharma@scilifelab.se

Karan received his masters degree in Chemistry in 2019 from Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. In his masters project, his research was focused on investigation of unconventional non-covalent interactions in modified DNA base pairs. He received his Ph.D.  in Chemistry in 2024 from University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA. During his Ph.D. research in the Heberle lab, he focused on investigating liquid-liquid phase separation in lipid bilayers. His work centered on using machine learning methods for characterizing the nanodomain structures in phase-separated lipid systems imaged using cryo-EM.

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Leon Bergner

Master's Student

Email: leonbh@kth.se

Leon is in his final year of his studies at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. He is in the masters program in Engineering Physics within the Theoretical Physics track. His masters project is focused on using MD simulations to study the effects of Caveolin on cell membrane curvature.

Flávia Ferreira

Undergraduate Student

Email: flavia.ferreira@dbb.su.se

Flávia is in her final year of her bachelor's degree in Biochemistry at the University of Porto, Portugal. She is an Erasmus student at Stockholm University and will be undertaking an internship. Her project is focused on lab practices, specifically the preparation of number-asymmetric liposomes for cryo-EM imaging.