About

Gabriela
Alexandru, PhD

Your editor is a scientist with extensive research experience in Molecular Biology and Genetics, from PhD studies at the IMP Vienna (Austria) with Prof. Kim Nasmyth, to postdoctoral research at Caltech (USA) with Prof. Raymond J. Deshaies, to ultimately leading her own research group at SCILLS and MRC-PPU, University of Dundee (UK). Her scientific supervisors – both native-speakers of English – remarked upon her excellent abilities as a science writer. Furthermore, her international career habituated her to communicate easily with scientists of diverse nationalities, with varied levels of proficiency in the English language.

During her 17 years as a research scientist, she became well versed in experimental research and data collection, as well as in data presentation and publication of research. She mentored researchers at pre- and post-doctoral level and reviewed PhD theses, both as PhD supervisor and as a member of PhD committees. Your editor is familiar with the entire process of scientific publication, from manuscript preparation to successful communication with journal editors and reviewers. Her research has been published in prestigious scientific journals, including Cell, and received over 1300 citations to date. She also served as peer reviewer for multiple journals, mainly from the Nature group.

Selected Publications

Baron Y, Pedrioli PG, Tyagi K, Johnson C, Wood NT, Fountaine D, Wightman M and Alexandru G.  VAPB/ALS8 interacts with FFAT-like proteins including the p97 cofactor FAF1 and the ASNA1 ATPase. BMC Biology 2014 May 29; 12:39.

Bandau S, Knebel A, Gage ZO, Wood NT and Alexandru G.  UBXN7 docks on neddylated cullin complexes using its UIM motif and causes HIF1 alpha accumulation. BMC Biology 2012 Apr 26; 10:36.

Alexandru G.  Exploring the role of p97 and its UBX-domain cofactors through identification of their interacting proteins. Methods Mol Biol 2012; 832: 305-312.

Alexandru G, Graumann J, Smith GT, Kolawa NJ, Fang R and Deshaies RJ.  UBXD7 binds multiple ubiquitin ligases and implicates p97 in HIF1 alpha turnover. Cell 2008 Sep 5; 134(5): 804-816.

Alexandru G, Uhlmann F, Mechtler K, Poupart MA and Nasmyth K.  Phosphorylation of the cohesin subunit Scc1 by Polo/Cdc5 kinase regulates sister chromatid separation in yeast. Cell 2001 May 18; 105(4): 459-472.

Alexandru G, Zachariae W, Schleiffer A and Nasmyth K.  Sister chromatid separation and chromosome re-duplication are regulated by different mechanisms in response to spindle damage. EMBO J 1999 May 17; 18(10): 2707-2721.

“One quality of Dr. Alexandru that I would like to emphasize is her ability to write. Of all the postdocs that I have had in my lab over the years, she is one of the two best in terms of writing ability. She can write very clearly and compellingly.”

Prof. Raymond J. Deshaies

Senior Vice President

of Global Research at Amgen

and

Visiting Associate at Caltech