We are happy to announce the spring 2025 edition of the ‘My hero and me’ webinar series where a junior scientist and his/her hero give a joint webinar on their topic of interest.
This time PhD student Wouter Magnus (Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium) and Prof. Dr. Kenneth Stedman (Portland State University, USA) will present the webinar entitled “Viruses from Hell” on Tuesday May 20, 2025, at 5:00 – 6:00 pm (GMT+2:00, Brussels) via Zoom. Expect a contemporary view on the most recent advances in the field of archaeal viruses!
One particular goal of this webinar series is also to inspire early career scientists – therefore we will end the webinar with an interview with Ken on how he ‘struggled’ when he was a junior scientist.
Please register in advance for this meeting.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to join the webinar.
Are you the next young scientist giving a webinar with your scientific hero? Or are you a senior scientist in touch with an early career scientist who should do the next edition? Contact us and we will help you to set up your own ‘My hero and me’ webinar! It is an excellent opportunity to get in touch with your hero and it may be the start of a new collaboration.
Speakers
Kenneth Stedman
Ken Stedman, Ph.D. has been a professor of Biology at Portland State University since 2001. He is the leader of the eXtreme Virus Lab (XVL), and co-founder of the Center for Life in Extreme Environments. He has been studying extremophilic Archaea and their viruses since working as a postdoc with Wolfram Zillig from 1997-2000. The eXtreme Virus Lab's archaeal virus research focuses on structure, function and genetics of SSV1 and interactions with its host Saccharlolobus solfataricus. We also collect samples from volcanic hot springs throughout the world to isolate more archaeal viruses and their hosts as well as discovering completely new groups of viruses. The XVL is also dedicated to science outreach and communication. When Ken is not in the lab, field or classroom, you will often find him racing his bicycle in the mud. Ken was born in England, and has lived in the United States, New Zealand, France, Switzerland and Germany and has two amazing kids.
Wouter Magnus
Ever since learning about evolution in school, I have been fascinated by the living world around me. I was intrigued by the question of how complex life managed to evolve from a simple pile of chemical compounds, and how it works on a molecular level. I decided that Bioengineering Sciences was the right study for me and I graduated from Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in 2021. During my final year, I performed my MSc thesis project in the lab of Eveline Peeters, working on the development of transcription regulator-based biosensors for engineering 3-hydroxypropionic acid production in E. coli. I realized that I really liked performing research, finding out about the functioning of proteins and the intricacies of regulatory networks. When Eveline asked me whether I was interested in continuing to work in the lab but switching to the archaeal domain of life and start a PhD project on an archaeal virus, I was hesitant at first, but soon I realized these extremophilic little things are incredibly fascinating, and ever since then E. coli has never seemed so dull. When I’m not in the lab, I like to practice sports, such as running, cycling or hiking, but I also enjoy reading a lot. If I’m not answering my phone, I’m probably out, riding my bike, enjoying nature, somewhere in the green area’s south of Brussels.