martin blackledge

Martin Blackledge studied Physics at the University of Manchester, and obtained his doctoral thesis in Physics at the University of Oxford in 1987, developing methods for in vivo phosphorus NMR spectra. In 1989 he joined the group of Professor Richard Ernst where he developed NMR-based tools to study the conformational dynamics of biomolecules. He joined the the Institut de Biologie Structurale (IBS) in 1992. He is group leader and deputy director of the institute. The primary research interest of the Blackledge group is the role of protein dynamics in biological function, investigated primarily using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, often combined with complementary biophysical techniques and advanced molecular simulation. His group studies the role of conformational flexibility in biological function on a broad range of time and length scales, from molecular recognition dynamics in folded proteins, to dynamics of large multi-domain assemblies to the study of the fundamental biophysics underlying dynamic modes exhibited by proteins. These techniques are used to describe the conformational space sampled by highly flexible or intrinsically disordered proteins, to map their interaction trajectories at atomic resolution and to describe their role in the stabilisation of membraneless organelles. Amongst other applications these methods are applied to understand the function of highly disordered protein/RNA assemblies involved in viral replication, the theme of his currently funded ERC advanced grant. He has published around 250 articles.