Staff Profile

I am a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Biosciences Institute.

Vacancies

I am always happy to receive informal enquires from prospective summer placement students and PhD students and will be looking to recruit in 2025. Get in touch by e-mail if you are interested.

Research positions

Research Staff Scientist, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Germany (2020-2023)

Postdoctoral Fellow, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Germany (2014-2020)

Education

PhD, Molecular Microbiology, University of Glasgow, UK (2010-2014)

MRes, Moleuclar Functions in Disease, University of Glasgow, UK (2009-2010)

BSc(Hons) Molecular Biology, University of St Andrews, UK (2005-2009)

Awards, Funding and Fellowships

Royal Society University Research Fellowship (2024)

NUAcT Fellowship – Ageing and Health, Newcastle University (2023)

Jürgen Wehland Award - Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (2018)

Add-on Fellowship for Interdisciplinary Science - Joachim-Herz Stiftung (2018)

COST Action BM1403 Experiment Grant - University of Antwerp (2016)

EMBL Interdisciplinary Post-doctoral Fellowship - Marie Curie Actions & EMBL (2014)

Sponsorship to attend 64^th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting - The Royal Society (2014)

Doctoral Fellowship - The Wellcome Trust (2009)

Outstanding Achievement Award: Molecular Biology - University of St Andrews (2009)

Dean’s List for Academic Excellence - University of St Andrews (2009)

Callan Memorial Scholarship - University of St Andrews (2008)

Margaret Laing Bell Prize: Outstanding Student in Biology - University of St Andrews (2006)

Links

Twitter

Google Scholar

Membrane transport systems in mycobacteria

Mycobacteria include some of the world's deadliest pathogens, with Mycobacterium tuberculosis being responsible for over 1 million deaths per year. Despite the importance of these pathogens, we still know very little about how mycobacteria transport substances across their complex cell membrane.

Our aim is to discover and characterise novel proteins residing in the mycobacterial outer membrane. By combining structural biology, microbiology, and biochemistry, we work to uncover the molecular mechanisms behind the transport of molecules in and out of the mycobacterial cell. In the future, we hope that an in-depth understanding of these processes will provide new avenues for drug discovery and the development of antibiotics.

• Articles

  • Zambelloni R, Beckham KSH, Wu HJ, Elofsson M, Marquez R, Gabrielsen M, Roe AJ. Crystal structures of WrbA, a spurious target of the salicylidene acylhydrazide inhibitors of type III secretion in Gram-negative pathogens, and verification of improved specificity of next-generation compounds. Microbiology 2022, 168(7).
  • Paulowski L, Beckham KSH, Johansen MD, Berneking L, Van N, Degefu Y, Staack S, Sotomayor FV, Asar L, Rohde H, Aldridge BB, Aepfelbacher M, Parret A, Wilmanns M, Kremer L, Combrink K, Maurer FP. C25-modified rifamycin derivatives with improved activity against Mycobacterium abscessus. PNAS Nexus 2022, 1(4), pgac130.
  • Beckham KSH, Ritter C, Chojnowski G, Ziemianowicz DS, Mullapudi E, Rettel M, Savitski MM, Mortensen SA, Kosinski J, Wilmanns M. Structure of the mycobacterial ESX-5 type VII secretion system pore complex. Science Advances 2021, 7(26), eabg9923.
  • Lagune M, Petit C, Sotomayor FV, Johansen MD, Beckham KSH, Ritter C, Girard Misguich F, Wilmanns M, Kremer L, Maurer FP, Herrmann JL. Conserved and specialized functions of Type VII secretion systems in non-tuberculous mycobacteria. Microbiology 2021, 167(7), 001054.
  • Beckham KSH, Staack S, Wilmanns M, Parret AHA. The pMy vector series: A versatile cloning platform for the recombinant production of mycobacterial proteins in Mycobacterium smegmatis. Protein Science 2020.
  • Crosskey TD, Beckham KSH, Wilmanns M. The ATPases of the mycobacterial type VII secretion system: Structural and mechanistic insights into secretion. Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology 2020.
  • Freire DM, Gutierrez C, Garza-Garcia A, Grabowska AD, Sala AJ, Ariyachaokun K, Panikova T, Beckham KSH, Colom A, Pogenberg V, Cianci M, Tuukkanen A, Boudehen Y-M, Peixoto A, Botella L, Svergun DI, Schnappinger D, Schneider TR, Genevaux P, de Carvalho LPSorio, Wilmanns M, Parret AHA, Neyrolles O. An NAD+ Phosphorylase Toxin Triggers Mycobacterium tuberculosis Cell Death. Molecular Cell 2019.
  • Beckham KSH, Ciccarelli L, Bunduc CM, Mertens HDT, Ummels R, Lugmayr W, Mayr J, Rettel M, Savitski MM, Svergun DI, Bitter W, Wilmanns M, Marlovits TC, Parret AHA, Houben ENG. Structure of the mycobacterial ESX-5 type VII secretion system membrane complex by single-particle analysis. Nature Microbiology 2017.
  • Beckham KSH, Connolly JPR, Ritchie JM, Wang D, Gawthorne JA, Tahoun A, Gally DL, Burgess K, Burchmore RJ, Smith BO, Beatson SA, Byron O, Wolfe AJ, Douce GR, Roe AJ. The metabolic enzyme AdhE controls the virulence of Escherichia coli O157: H7. Molecular Microbiology 2014, 93(1), 199-211.
  • Scott CL, Zangerle Murray TFP, Beckham KSH, Douce G, Mowat AM. Signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPα) regulates the homeostasis of CD103⁺CD11b⁺ DCs in the intestinal lamina propria. European Journal of Immunology 2014.
  • Beckham KSH, Roe AJ. From screen to target: insights and approaches for the development of anti-virulence compounds. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology 2014.
  • Gawthorne JA, Reddick LE, Akpunarlieva SN, Beckham KSH, Christie JM, Alto NM. Express Your LOV: An Engineered Flavoprotein as a Reporter for Protein Expression and Purification. PLoS ONE 2012.