Torsten John

Torsten John is Assistant Professor of Physical Chemistry at Constructor University in Bremen, Germany. His research focuses on biophysical and computational chemistry, with particular interest in peptide self-assembly and biomolecular interactions at interfaces.

Torsten studied chemistry at Leipzig University, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees. His academic journey included research stays in the groups of Prof. Lisandra L. Martin at Monash University and Prof. Alan E. Mark at the University of Queensland, both in Australia. He received his PhD in 2020 with summa cum laude under the mentorship of Prof. Bernd Abel at the Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM) in Leipzig. His doctoral work investigated the fundamental mechanisms of peptide self-assembly at biologically relevant interfaces such as nanoparticles and membranes.

Following his PhD, Torsten joined the Department of Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the group of Prof. Mark Bathe, where he worked on DNA nanotechnology. In June 2023, he returned to Germany as a Postdoctoral Researcher in Prof. Tanja Weil’s group at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research.

His scientific achievements have been recognized through numerous awards and fellowships, including selection as a CAS Future Leader, Endeavour Research Fellow, and member of the IUPAC Periodic Table of Younger Chemists. He is also a Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting Young Scientist and was 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.