Pao Pipatpadungsin

Pao is an Interdisciplinary Bioscience BBSRC-DTP student at the University of Oxford and Diamond. Pao obtained his BSc Biochemistry from Imperial College London. He then joined Sarah Rouse's lab for his MRes project focusing on how adeno-associated virus (AAV) enters the host cell. During this time, he developed his interest in electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) techniques, especially electron cryo-tomography (cryo-ET), and molecular dynamics simulations to determine the virus structure in situ and understand the biophysics of the cell entry process. Pao then joined Weng Ng (Diamond) and Professor Thomas Bowden (Oxford)'s labs to work on a PhD project exploring the structure and native functionalities of bornaviruses glycoprotein.

At Diamond, Pao aims to elucidate the structure of bornaviruses glycoprotein using a combination of cryo-EM and X-ray crystallography approaches. The yielded high-resolution structures of the glycoprotein will be an important stepping stone to understanding its native functions. Pao will also explore the native functionalities of the glycoprotein using a wide range of tools such as cryo-ET and correlative light-electron imaging