Aleks Nivina

Aleks Nivina serves as a Junior Group Leader at the University of Zurich's Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, holding a prestigious SNSF Ambizione fellowship since 2023. Her interdisciplinary work bridges molecular biology, genetics, and evolutionary studies to decipher mechanisms of natural product biosynthesis and genetic innovation in bacterial systems.

Her academic foundation includes a Pharm.D. in Pharmaceutical Research (2006-2015) and M.Sc. in Systems and Synthetic Biology (2011-2012) from Paris Descartes University, followed by a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Biology at the Institut Pasteur (2012-2016). Postdoctoral training at Stanford University (2017-2022) and industry experience at Codexis Inc. (2022-2023) preceded her current independent research position.

Nivina's research centers on natural product biosynthesis, particularly modular polyketide synthases and antibiotic pathways, with critical investigations into antibiotic resistance mechanisms. She pioneers studies on enzyme evolution through DNA recombination and gene conversion, employing cutting-edge approaches from single-molecule biophysics to machine learning. Her work reveals how genetic elements like integrons and GRINS systems accelerate evolutionary innovation in biosynthetic pathways.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications shows a cohesive trajectory from fundamental studies of DNA recombination dynamics to engineered applications in polyketide synthase diversification. Her scholarship demonstrates increasing integration of computational methods with experimental validation, particularly in refining recombination sites and modeling evolutionary landscapes in antibiotic-producing systems.

Her scientific recognition includes:

• SNSF Ambizione fellowship (2023-present)

Funded by her Ambizione grant, Nivina leads an independent research group establishing novel methodologies for genetic engineering of biosynthetic pathways. While currently building her team and not yet supervising graduate students, her lab focuses on harnessing evolutionary principles to combat antibiotic resistance through rational design of antimicrobial compounds and resistance-bypassing strategies.

Based in Zurich's Winterthurerstrasse campus, her laboratory combines structural biology, evolutionary genetics, and synthetic biology approaches to investigate how DNA secondary structures and recombination mechanisms drive functional innovation in natural product biosynthesis, with implications for next-generation antibiotic development.