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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

When we combined the data from our analysis of a whole load of SodFM variants, we observed this remarkable correlation between metal preference (cambialism ratio; Fe-activity / Mn activity) and redox properties.

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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Then we studied that pair in biochemical detail to identify residues in the metal’s secondary coordination sphere that had changed during neofunctionalisation to change its metal-preference: doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Structure of the active site of the S. aureus SodFMs, illustrating three residues in the secondary coordination sphere that control metal-preference.

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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

SodFMs come in three ‘flavours’ based on the metal specificity of their catalysis: they can be highly Mn-preferring (inactive with Fe), highly Fe-preferring (inactive with Mn), or ‘cambialistic’ (active with either metal). Yet they all have the same structure.

Structure of a pair of SodFM isozymes from S. aureus, which display different catalytic metal-preferences.

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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

The ups and downs of academic life: a story told in two Acts (from two consecutive days)

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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

A cracking weekend in Annecy with a whole load of old friends and their families. Good times. Even a >3 h delay to my flight back from Geneva can’t dampen my spirits.

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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

On Saturday, we gathered two teams from IBB-PAS to run the Relay Marathon #Ekiden in Warsaw. It was a good day for running, but it made for a sore Sunday (for me, at least). Thanks to all of our runners for a great team effort!

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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Finally, we're recruiting! If you'd like to do a PhD using NMR structures to study the dynamics of a metalloenzyme, then you're in luck! Come to Warsaw for this project, in collaboration with Simone Ciofi-Baffoni's group at CERM, Florence: ibb.edu.pl/app/uploads/...

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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Another manuscript, with Paola Massari's group at Tufts, is now on BioRXiv. We characterised the copper storage protein from Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which is important in its periplasmic copper homeostasis but is also a potential vaccine candidate: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

Florence never fails to take your breath away

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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

A great week at the IPNC conference in Florence. Learned a lot about this interesting group of bacteria which will help in our forthcoming project, and nice to meet a whole new community of researchers.

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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

This weekend, my parents came to visit me in Warsaw, so I gave them a tour of the lab. Turns out it was the first time they'd visited any of my labs, which is weird. But I think they're now convinced that I really do have a proper job 🤷‍♂️

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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

Looking for a postdoc position? Want to apply your biochemistry skills to answer interesting evolutionary questions of how metalloenzymes evolve? Join my growing team in Warsaw at @IBBPAS. We're seeking a talented new postdoc to work on the superoxide dismutases. ibb.edu.pl/app/uploads/...

Tetrameric cartoon structure of a SodFM5 subfamily SOD isozyme

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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Today was a good day. It began with a short run with K in Łazienki Park on a bracing December morning, in support of Santa’s helpers. They need all the help they can get, they have a lot of work to do at this time of year.

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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

I have a PhD position available in my group, to start in March 2025. If you have a keen interest in biochemistry and would like to study an exciting and novel class of copper proteins (aka weird Cu tubes) from bacteria, I'd love to hear from you. You should apply here: ibb.edu.pl/app/uploads/...

Figure from Vita et al., 2016, Sci Rep: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39065

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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 27/11/2023

Nice weekend in the UK visiting the Big Smoke

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Kevin Waldron @waldronlab.bsky.social · 22/11/2023

Two leaving presents from my former colleagues in Newcastle now hang on the wall of my office in Warsaw ❤️

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