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Loving one’s work, unfortunately the privilege of a few, represents the best, most concrete approximation of happiness on Earth...

Primo Levi

Claudia Bonfio

Group Leader

Biography

I was born in Siena, a beautiful medieval city in Tuscany, mostly known for the wine produced in the surroundings. I completed my BSc and MSc studies in Chemistry and my PhD in Biomolecular Sciences in late 2017, working on the origin and catalytic activity of ancient proteins. Later, as a Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellow, I joined the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, where I looked into the chemical origin of modern cells. After a short stay at the University of Cambridge as an 1851 Research Fellow, exploring prebiotic membrane signalling, ISIS welcomed me to start my independent career. In September 2024, with my group, I moved back to Cambridge to make the Department of Biochemistry our new home. We are currently working on the design and development of functional primitive cells capable of Darwinian evolution.

Team

Yuhan Li

PhD Student

primitive liposomes

Fatma Mihoubi

PhD Student

primitive coacervates

Fidan Rahmatova

PhD Student

prebiotic lipid synthesis

Krishnakavya Thaipuraayil-Madanan

PhD Student

primitive liposomes

Simran Dhanwantri

MPhil Student

coacervate-liposome interactions

Yaam Deckel

MPhil Student

membrane-peptide interactions

Jiashu Li

MSc student

primitive liposomes

David Russell

Postdoc

prebiotic lipid synthesis

Rob Ives

Postdoc

prebiotic lipid synthesis

Karina Nakashima

Rubicon Fellow

primitive coacervates

Alumni

Callum Harrison, Part II Biochemistry student (University of Cambridge), 2025

E White, Part II Biochemistry student (University of Cambridge), 2025

Maiia Aleksandrova, PhD student (University of Strasbourg), 2025 – now PDRA at EPSCI Paris

Mark Ely Namoro, MSc student (University of Strasbourg), 2024

Malak Jaber, MSc student (University of Strasbourg), 2024

Lucile Schnoebelen, BSc student (University of Strasbourg), 2023

Elif Su Özkök, BSc student, Summer Internship (Bilkent University), 2023

Jiashu Li, BSc student, Summer Internship (University of Strasbourg), 2023

Filippo Ruggiero, Erasmus+ student (University of Rome Tor Vergata), 2023

Valeria Boide-Trujillo, MSc student (University of Strasbourg), 2023

Sophia Seredyuk, BSc student, Summer Internship (Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv), 2022

Sergiu Bicic, MSc student (University of Strasbourg), 2022

Jordan Wasnaire, Erasmus+ student (KU Leuven), 2022