Unit Members

I majored in Chemistry at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), a field still dear to me, even though most of my experiments now happen in the kitchen. After teaching Chemistry at the high school and undergraduate levels, I received a MEXT scholarship to pursue a Master’s in Materials Science at the University of Tsukuba, focusing on thermoelectric materials. My fascination with electron microscopy during this time inspired me to pursue a PhD in Cryo-EM. Currently, I study the unique and weird molecular structures of extremophile viruses.

Hideyuki has worked on structural studies of macromolecular assemblies such as bacterial flagellum or metabolic enzymes by X-ray crystallography since he started his academic career at Osaka University, where he received his PhD degree in Biochemistry. Hideyuki become a member of the Wolf unit in 2018 after a stint at RIKEN. Hideyuki is interested in understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying protein DNA/RNA complexes or membrane proteins by Cryo-EM.

As a PhD student, Keon Young joined the Wolf Unit in September 2020 to learn electron microscopy and structural biology. Before coming to Okinawa, he got his BSc and MSc in X-ray crystallography at Soongsil University (Seoul, South Korea) and worked at Chonnam National University Medical School and National Cancer Center Korea for three years. Now he is interested in grafting together structural biology and medical science, especially focusing on vaccine development and anticancer drug delivery.

Maya received her Bachelor’s in biochemistry from Arizona State University (AZ, USA) after working on a project simplifying sample preparation for Cryo-EM. After working as an analytical chemist and microbiologist during the pandemic, she made her way to Okinawa to join the Wolf Unit. She is particularly interested in the structure and mechanisms of bacteriophages and hopes her work will be used in practical medical applications. When not working, she loves gardening, playing the sanshin, and playing tabletop RPGs!

Monika completed her Bachelor of Science in Physics at Northeastern University while studying the synthesis and optoelectronics of 2D heterostructures. She has since worked on four-wave mixing in cold atom systems, synthesis and properties of multiferroic thin films, and the structure of amyloid fibrils. After two years teaching high school physics and engineering, she resumed her studies in the Molecular Cryo-Electron Microscopy Unit, and currently works on the application of single-particle analysis techniques to beam-sensitive nanomaterials and spectroscopic imaging. Outside the lab, Monika enjoys diving, knitting, aerial silks, and reading with her cat.

Rafa completed his PhD in Structural Biology at Imperial College London, where he worked on the structure of the INO80 chromatin remodeler and other complexes involved in the DNA damage response. He is currently working on the structure of other large, DNA-binding macromolecular assemblies, as well as on the structure of bacteriophages with potential practical applications.

Although Rika originally came to Okinawa as a human resource professional for an international hotel, life is full of magic, and in September 2012 she joined the new and interesting world of OIST as a research unit administrator. Rika loves chocolate, champagne brunch and, most of all, 3-year old Halo, her sometimes stubborn but loyal miniature dachshund, known to be the cutest in the world!

Vladimir received his PhD in Molecular Biology at Moscow State University working on the bacterial translation system. His current interest is to understand the structural organization of the non-canonical NF-kB signaling pathway.