Soft Matter in Life Core Group leader, LINXS Fellow

Head of Scientific Support, ESS / adjunct Associate Professor, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Hanna is a biophysical chemist whose research is multidisciplinary and centers around elucidating cell membrane structure and function by using neutron scattering and deuteration, ranging from development of advanced biomimetics for human cell membranes built from purified cell lipid extracts to the in-situ study of membrane-protein and lipid function in cancer cell models. Hanna obtained a DPhil in Physical Chemistry from Oxford University (2004). After postdoc fellowships at Oxford, Toshiba (Japan) and ANSTO (Australia), she joined the ILL in Grenoble (France) as instrument scientist in 2009 before moving to Lund in 2011 as the first ESS instrument scientist and later as a senior life scientist in the DEMAX deuteration platform. She was appointed in 2024 as the Head of the ESS Scientific Support Division comprising support laboratories and sample environments.

Soft Matter in Life deputy Core Group leader and co-leader of WG2 (Pathways of multi-scale structure formation in macromolecular systems), LINXS Fellow

Associate Professor, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Felix has a strong background in staticand dynamic neutron, X-ray and light scattering applied to biological soft matter. A special focus of his work lies on dynamics, phase behavior and related assembly in protein solutions. While initial work addressed model proteins, recent applications involved inter alia antibodies, elastin-based systems and food proteins as highly relevant systems for SMILE. Felix obtained his PhD in physics at the University of Tübingen (Germany) in 2014. After postdoctoral stays at the Institut Laue Langevin (Grenoble, France) and Lund University, he was assistant and associate professor at the Department of Biomedical Science at Malmö University within 2019 to 2023. Since 2023, Felix is AssociateProfessor at the Division of Physical Chemistry at Lund University. In addition, Felix acts as coordinator in the COMMONS center of excellence funded by VR. He is co-chair of the board of the Swedish Neutron Scattering Society and member of the board of LINXS.

Soft Matter in Life Core Group member, LINXS Fellow

Professor, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Anna is a soft matter scientist specializing in scattering methods and their application to life science, working mainly with physiologically and pharmaceutically relevant proteins (monoclonal antibodies, eye lens proteins etc.) using a colloid approach to protein interactions and solution properties. Her current research focuses on phasebehavior, structure, dynamics and flow behavior of concentrated protein solutions and mixtures with a particular interest in protein dynamics under crowded conditions, phase separation and dynamical arrest, as well as novel concepts for high concentration protein formulations. Anna obtained her PhD in Physical Chemistry in Graz/Austria, then moved to Switzerland where she worked as a postdoc and then as a tenured senior scientist at the Physics Department in Fribourg. In 2008 she did her Habilitation (Venia Legendi) in Experimental Physics before she transferred her activities in 2011 to Lund University, Division of Physical Chemistry.

Soft Matter in Life Core Group member, LINXS Fellow

Professor, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Emma is a physical chemist specializing on lipid self-assembly, membrane biophysics and lipid-protein interactions. Her current research focuses on lipid-protein co-assembly in amyloid formation, membrane remodelling and lipid self-assembly in non-equilibrium conditions. Emma obtained her PhD in Physical Chemistry at Lund University in 2001. After two postdoc periods; at the Department of Pharmacy at Uppsala University, and at the Department Biochemistry of Membranes at Utrecht University, she moved in 2004 back to Lund to start a research group, where she is now a professor in the Division of Physical Chemistry. Emma is the Director of the COMMONS Center of Excellence. Emma has been the chair of the Research council for natural and engineering sciences at Swedish Research council, and she has leadership tasks at Faculty and Institutional level at Lund University.

Soft Matter in Life Core Group member and co-leader of WG2 (Pathways of multi-scale structure formation in macromolecular systems), LINXS Fellow

Professor, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Anna is a specialist in applied surface and colloid chemistry with applications in foods and pharmaceuticals. She has an interest in x-ray and neutron techniques to study structure and dynamics in soft matter systems using scattering, spectroscopy and tomography. Her research interests focus on the interactions and structure formation in systems composed of biomolecules (proteins, lipids and carbohydrates) and how this can be applied in e.g. formation of structure in complex biomolecular systems, such as formulations of biological drugs (proteins, probiotics, nucleic acids) as well as foods (emulsions, gels and foams). Anna obtained her PhD in Biotechnology at Lund University (enzyme catalysed lipid synthesis), and moved to Reading, UK for a post-doc at Institute of Food Research. She then joined Institute for Surface Chemistry in Stockholm, Sweden (later merged into RISE), were she focused on drying technologies, powder and microencapsulation for food and pharma applications. She was the director of the Vinnova competence centre NextBioForm (2018-2024). She joined Lund University in 2023 as professor in Food technology.

Soft Matter in Life Core Group member and co-leader of WG1 (Higher complexity in lipid self-assembly), LINXS Fellow

Assistant Professor, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden

Maggie and her group focus on applying neutron and X-ray scattering techniques to quantify the structural arrangement of lipid species in a range of liposome, lipid nanoparticle, and extracellular vesicle systems. She couples this with a range of complementary techniques including in vitro assays, single particle techniques, sup-population separation methods, surface techniques, lipidomics, and microscopy. By combining these techniques, she and her group aim to uncover the role that lipid chemical composition and physical arrangement plays in the bioactivity of synthetic and naturally-derived vesicles and LNPs, and in how we can better understand how these particles interact with cells and with model membranes of increasing complexity. Maggie obtained her PhD in Nanoscience at Basel University, Switzerland, studying lipid vesicles as cardiovascular delivery vectors, and the morphology of human coronary arteries using absorption/phase-contrast X-ray tomography. She completed post docs at Imperial College London, UK (2013-2017) and Karolinska Institutet, Sweden (2017-2022), studying lipid self-assembled structures and their applications in drug delivery and diagnostics. In 2023 she began her independent research group at Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Life Sciences, in the Division of Chemical Biology.

Soft Matter in Life Core Group member and co-leader of WG1 (Higher complexity in lipid self-assembly), LINXS Fellow

Associate Professor, SciLifeLab, KTH, Stockholm, Sweden

Hanna is a lipid biophysicist who specializes inusing X-ray and neutron scattering to study structure and function in lipid assemblies. This includes engineering and characterising planar and curved bulk phases and studying how nano particle structure can give mechanistic insights into their release properties. Her current research focuses on understanding the impact of health and disease on the biophysical properties of lipid membranes in cells and correlating this to the function of lipid pharmaceuticals. Hanna obtained her PhD in Chemical Biology of Health and Disease from Imperial College London (UK) and after her first PostDoc moved to Karolinska Institutet, Sweden as a research fellow. From 2022-2024 she was also Head of Biophysics at NanoVation Therapeutics, a lipid nanoparticle development company. In 2024 she moved to SciLifeLab, KTH where she is an Associate Professor.

Soft Matter in Life Core Group member, LINXS Fellow

Senior Researcher, CNR Institute of Complex Systems c/o Department of Physics,Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

Yuri is a physicist specializing in scattering techniques for softmatter science and biophysics. His research focuses on the structure and dynamics of lipid-based andsoft matter systems. He obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Parma (Italy) in 2010. After a short postdoctoral position in Parma, he moved to the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble, France, where he worked as a postdoc (2011–2013) on new models and methods for biomembrane research. He then became a staff scientist and Coordinator of the Partnership for SoftCondensed Matter initiative. During this time, he contributed to advancements in surface-sensitive techniques for the structural characterization of soft matter at interfaces, with a particular emphasis on lipid-based systems. In 2020, Yuri returned to Italy as an Assistant Professor at the Polytechnic University of Marche. Since 2023, he has been a Senior Researcher at the CNR Institute for Complex Systems, affiliated with the Department of Physics at Sapienza University of Rome. Since 2024, he coordinates the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network CLIMB: Complex Lipid Membranes for Science and Technology.

Soft Matter in Life Core Group member and member WG2 (Pathways of multi-scale structure formation in macromolecular systems), LINXS Fellow

MAX IV, Lund, Sweden

Ann is a leading scientist in X-ray and neutron scattering techniques, specializingin soft condensed matter and biological self-assembly. She is the Group Manager for Soft Materials at MAX IV Laboratory and a LINXS Fellow. With over 25 years of experience, she has published 90+ papers, secured 12 MSEK in research funding, and has many international collaborations. Ann has served on multiple advisory panels and played a key role in organizing scientific conferences. She is committed to advancing multi-scale structural studies. At MAX IV, she leads the CoSAXS beamline, developing X-ray methodologies for cutting-edge biomolecular research.