Sébastien Keiffer

Sébastien Keiffer – early stage researcher in fragment-based lead discovery (FBLD) at ZoBio BV in Leiden, the Netherlands. He started his bachelor’s studies in Chemistry in 2010 at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, Germany, which he finalised with a bachelor’s thesis in biochemistry in 2013 on nitrous oxide reductase (N2OR) in the lab of Prof. Einsle. Afterwards, he enrolled in the newly-established Biochemistry & Biophysics Master’s course, during which he accomplished a semestral internship at the Ribbe lab at the University of California, Irvine, USA, working on the nitrogenase complex. He finished his Master’s studies in the Einsle lab in 2015 with a thesis on an uncanonical sulphite and its appertaining electron shuttle. He enrolled in the Fragnet programme to expand his the theoretical and practical horizon and realise its feasibility in a more industrial environment, focussing on contemporary challenges by investigating ligand-protein binding events of proteins involved in diseases. He has experience in recombinant protein production in bacterial systems, the subsequent purification and crystallisation, and some analytical methods to determine enzyme kinetical and thermodynamic parameters; everything both under oxic and anoxic conditions and in the light of structural biology.

Project: ESR5: Biophysics Based FBLD
Industrial supervisor: Dr. Gregg Siegal (Zobio)