People
Kaiserli lab group
Thai Lunch with Leonidas. September 2025.
Principal investigator
Dr Eirini Kaiserli
Associate Professor
Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Fellow, University of Glasgow, UK
Human Frontier Science Post-doctoral Fellow, The Salk Insitute, La Jolla, USA
PhD University of Glasgow, UK
MSci University of Glasgow, UK
Gatsby Undergraduate Studentship, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford, USA
Eirini Kaiserli (PI) was born and educated on the island of Kos, Greece and became interested in Plant Biology and Photobiology during her Undergraduate degree at the University of Glasgow, UK. One of the most defining points in her academic path was the award of the Sainsbury Undergraduate Studentship from the Gatsby Foundation to work at one of the leading Plant Photobiology labs at Carnegie Institution of Washington at Stanford University in California. This research experience inspired her to pursue a PhD on “UV-B perception” at the lab of Professor Gareth I Jenkins at the University of Glasgow, UK followed by a Human Frontier Science Program post-doctoral fellowship on “Light signal integration” at the lab of Professor Joanne Chory, an inspiring Woman in Science role model and Howard Hughes Medical Investigator at the Salk Institute in San Diego, California. Eirini joined the School of Molecular Biosciences at the University of Glasgow to start her research group as a Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Fellow in 2013, received tenure in 2016 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in 2019, just before the onset of her maternity leave. In addition to directing a research group, Eirini delivers lectures, tutorials, lab classes, supervises and mentors undergraduate and postgraduate students on subjects related to Molecular, Cellular and Plant Biology. Eirini is a Gatsby Plant Science Advisor and Mentor, a member of internal and external professional committees, editorial boards and mentoring schemes and promotes knowledge exchange by participating and organising international conferences and science communication events.
Post-doctoral researchers
Research Assistants
Postgraduate researchers
Bochen Liu
CSC PhD Scholarship
MScR Northwest A & F University, Shaanxi, China
BSc Shandong Agricultural University, Shandong, China
Isaac Terrington
MSci, University of Glasgow
MSci University of Glasgow, 2022-Present
Research
Key Research Areas
• Photomorphogenesis & Photoperiodic Flowering
• Light-induced changes in nuclear architecture
• Subnuclear condensates: structure & function
• Transcriptional & epigenetic regulation
• Integration of light and temperature cues
Plants exhibit enormous plasticity, therefore they provide a great model for studying how cells and organisms respond and adapt to the constantly changing environment. Light is an environmental stimulus essential not only for energy production, but also for triggering a plethora of developmental and photoprotective responses. The majority of light signalling components are constitutively localised or translocated into the nucleus and form subnuclear structures, also referred to as nuclear foci, photobodies or speckles to regulate gene expression, protein modification and DNA repair. Studies in animal systems indicate a direct correlation between the disruption of nuclear microdomains and the onset of heritable diseases, ageing and cancer. New findings in this area could have major applications in healthcare, agricultural sustainability and basic biosciences.
The focus of my research is to understand how environmental stimuli influence the organization of the plant nucleus, and how this translates into changes in cell and plant architecture and development. In particular, my lab is interested in elucidating the functional significance and regulation of nuclear bodies in response to light and temperature. Identification and characterisation of novel components that bridge light signalling to protein stability, transcriptional regulation or DNA damage repair will provide better understanding of the role of photobody formation in plant growth, development and photoprotection.
In order to monitor the dynamic nature, the speed of formation, the identity and the composition of these structures within the nucleus, my lab is employing a multidisciplinary approach using genomics, proteomics and cell biology.
Produced with BioRender
Produced with BioRender
Our values
• Integrity – Rigorous, honest, reproducible science
• Collaboration – Knowledge-sharing and teamwork
• Respect & Kindness – Inclusive and welcoming culture
• Curiosity & Innovation – Driven by questions and creativity
• Openness – Transparent communication and feedback
• Growth – Learning from mistakes and mentoring others
• Excellence – Striving for impactful science
Partners
Resources
Alumni
Former Kaiserli Lab Members
- Katalin Paldi (PGR) 2014-15, M.Res Plant Science, University of Glasgow, current position: Postdoc at University of Florida, USA
- Jonna Aitta (UG) 2014-15, University of Glasgow
- Egle Begaite (UG) 2014-15 Dobbie Smith Awardee, University of Glasgow
- Matthew Habasque (UG) 2015, Summer Internship, University of Glasgow
- Alice Robustelli-Test (PGR) 2015, Erasmus +, University of Milan
- Rosa Maria Castillo Bravo (PGR) 2015-16, Erasmus +, University of Seville, Current position: PhD student at the University of Galway, Ireland
- Adam Gauley (UG) 2015-16, MCB Honours Project, University of Glasgow, Current position: PhD student at JIC, Norwich
- Giovanni Giuriani (UG) 2016, Summer Internship, University of Glasgow, Current position: PhD at the University of Glasgow
- Silviya Dimova (UG) 2016-17, Genetics Honours Project, University of Glasgow
- Jennifer Fleming (UG) 2016-17, Genetics Honours Project, University of Glasgow
- Justin Joseph (PGT) 2016-17, MRes Biomedical Sciences, University of Glasgow
- Mihail Peychev (PGT) 2016-17, MRes Biomedical Sciences, University of Glasgow
- Gabriela Krawiec (UG), Lab volunteer, 2016-17, University of Glasgow
- Tajra Lulo (UG), Summer Visiting Internship, 2017, International University of Sarajevo, Bosnia
- Catriona MacIntosh (UG), Summer Internship, 2017, Genetics, University of Glasgow
- Elisa Vellutini (PGR) 2017-18, Erasmus +, University of Pisa, IT
- Maisoun Alalami (UG), 2017-18, Genetics Honours Project, University of Glasgow
- Michalis Giovanakis (UG), 2017-2018, Erasmus +, University of Crete, GR
- William MacIntosh-Smith (2018) MRes Medical Genetics, University of Glasgow
- Giorgio Perrella, Postdoc (2016-2019), Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of Milan, Italy
- Jack Bunyan, UG (2018-2019)
- Samantha Weslee Rosenbaum, MSc (2019), University of Glasgow
- Lilian Umekunne, MSc (2019), University of Glasgow
- Ruben Tesoro-Moreno, UG (2021-2022), Current Position: PhD at EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany
- Mhairi Davidson, PhD (2016-2020), Current Position: Postdoc at ENS, Paris, France
- Eirini Patitaki, Erasmus + (2017), MScR (2019-2020)
- Liz O’ Donnell, Technician (2013-2020)
- Yuyang Li (2022), MSc University of Glasgow
- Weiwei Fang, PhD (2018-2022), Current Position: Postdoc at the University of Milan, Italy
- Anna Zioutopoulou, Erasmus + (2016), MScRes (2017-2018), PhD (2018-2023)
- Jakub Michalski, UG (2022-2023)
- Maria Valverde Caba, UG (2022-2023), Current Position: MSc in Bioinformatics, University of Glasgow
- Micaela Milani, MSci (2022-2023), University of Glasgow. Current Position: Graduate Student, University of Potsdam, Germany.
- Achilleas Panteli, MSc (2022-2023), University of Glasgow
- Miriam Negussu, Visiting PhD scholar, University of Florence
- Yuyang Li, Research Associate in Bioinformatics, (2023) Current Position: Graduate Student, University of Texas, Austin, USA
- Isaac Wong, UG BSc Honours Project (2023-2024), University of Glasgow
- Beatrice Lopes-Chaves, BSc Honours Project (2024-2025), University of Glasgow
- James Donaldson, UG BSc Honours Project (2024-2025), University of Glasgow
- Zilu Zhang, MSc (2025), University of Glasgow
- Zhuoran Lin, MSc (2025), University of Glasgow
- Tianyuan Xu, PhD (2021-2025), Current Position: postdoctoral researcher at Cold Spring Harbor Lab, USA
- Leonidas Kougiteas, Visiting Researcher funded by RECROP STSM (2025), University of Caen, France