Ralph Grand
Ralph Grand has been a junior group leader at the Center for Molecular Biology Heidelberg (ZMBH) since 2022. His lab investigates how genes are switched on and off in mammalian cells.
Ralph conducted his doctoral research on chromosome organization in E. coli and yeast at Massey University in Auckland. He continued as a postdoctoral researcher at the Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, in 2014, before joining the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel as a postdoctoral fellow from 2015 to 2021. There, he worked on transcription factor dynamics and chromatin accessibility, showing how transcription factors read out chromatinized motifs and identifying BANP (BTG3-associated nuclear protein) as an essential activator of an essential gene set.
In his own research group, Ralph continues to study transcription factors, their interaction with DNA packaged in chromatin, the influence of epigenetic modifications, and the mechanisms that ensure robust expression of essential genes. In combining quantitative molecular biology approaches, bioinformatics, and mathematical modeling, the lab explores gene activation processes by further dissecting the unique role of BANP. By better understanding the components and mechanisms regulating gene activity, the Grand lab strives to develop new targeted therapeutics to improve human health.
