Torsten John

Torsten completed his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from Leipzig University, Germany, with a specialization in biophysical and computational chemistry. His academic journey included research stays in the laboratories of Prof. Lisandra L. Martin at Monash University and Prof. Alan E. Mark at the University of Queensland, both in Australia. Mentored by Prof. Bernd Abel at the Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering in Germany, Torsten earned his PhD with summa cum laude in February 2020. His doctoral thesis focused on the fundamental mechanisms of peptide self-assembly near biologically relevant interfaces, particularly nanoparticles and membranes.

Transitioning to a Postdoc position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA, Torsten joined the group of Prof. Mark Bathe in the Department of Biological Engineering, working on DNA nanotechnology. Upon returning to Germany in June 2023, he became a Postdoc researcher in Prof. Tanja Weil's group at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research. As of September 2024, Torsten holds the position of Assistant Professor of Physical Chemistry at Constructor University in Bremen.

Torsten has received numerous awards, including recognition as a CAS Future Leader, Endeavor Research Fellow, and member of the IUPAC Periodic Table of Younger Chemists. He was also selected as a Young Scientist at the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. His postdoctoral research has been supported by a Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Selected Publications

• John, T.; Rampioni, A.; Poger, D.; Mark, A. E. Molecular Insights into the Dynamics of Amyloid Fibril Growth: Elongation and Lateral Assembly of GNNQQNY Protofibrils. ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1021/acschemneuro.3c00754.

• John, T.; Piantavigna, S.; Dealey, T. J. A.; Abel, B.; Risselada, H. J.; Martin, L. L. Lipid Oxidation Controls Peptide Self-Assembly near Membranes through a Surface Attraction Mechanism. Chem. Sci. 2023, 14 (14), 3730–3741. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3SC00159H.

• John, T.; Adler, J.; Elsner, C.; Petzold, J.; Krueger, M.; Martin, L. L.; Huster, D.; Risselada, H. J.; Abel, B. Mechanistic Insights into the Size-Dependent Effects of Nanoparticles on Inhibiting and Accelerating Amyloid Fibril Formation. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 2022, 622, 804–818. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2022.04.134.

• Jun, H.; Wang, X.; Parsons, M. F.; Bricker, W. P.; John, T.; Li, S.; Jackson, S.; Chiu, W.; Bathe, M. Rapid Prototyping of Arbitrary 2D and 3D Wireframe DNA Origami. Nucleic Acids Res. 2021, 49 (18), 10265–10274. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkab762.

• John, T.; Gladytz, A.; Kubeil, C.; Martin, L. L.; Risselada, H. J.; Abel, B. Impact of Nanoparticles on Amyloid Peptide and Protein Aggregation: A Review with a Focus on Gold Nanoparticles. Nanoscale 2018, 10 (45), 20894–20913. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8NR04506B.