Léa Russo

"My name is Léa Russo. I completed my Bachelor's degree in Life and Earth Sciences and my Master's degree in Marine Sciences at Aix-Marseille University, specializing in extremophilic organisms. I am currently pursuing my PhD at the interface of the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanology (MIO) and the Laboratory of Ionic and Molecular Interactions Physics (PIIM), under the supervision of Gaël Erauso and Grégoire Danger.

My research focuses on the search for biosignatures relevant to space missions. I study the responses of extremophilic microorganisms to simulated environmental conditions of Enceladus, with the aim of identifying molecular biomarkers of biological activity and distinguishing them from abiotic signatures. My work involves microorganism cultivation under hyperbaric conditions, as well as the analysis of exometabolomes, proteomes/transcriptomes and lipidomes.

I am interested in attending the PyMOL in the AlphaFold era training to develop my skills in protein structure visualization and analysis. Learning how to explore experimental and AI-predicted structural models could help me better interpret molecular data, investigate protein structures and potentially contribute to the identification and characterization of relevant biomarkers in my research"