Professor: Olga Dontsova
Dr Ilya Osterman is a principal researcher at Skoltech Center of Life Sciences and researcher at the Department of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Ilya finished MSU in 2009 and started his PhD project in the field of RNA modifications. In 2012 he received his PhD degree and became a researcher at the Department of Chemistry, in 2018 he obtained his habilitation in chemistry and became principal researcher at Skoltech Center of Life Sciences . Dr. Osterman is a winner of many prestigious prizes for young scientists, the European Academy prize, the medal of Russian Academy of Science and prizes of Russian and Moscow Government among them.
The main subject of Ilya work refers to RNA-protein complexes in bacteria. During PhD project, he systematically studied how structural variations in 5’-UTR and other features of bacterial genes including Shine-Dalgarno sequence (SD), distinct start codons, A/U-rich regions, mRNA secondary structure, codon usage, organization of genes in the operons affect the efficiency of translation.
Ilya created screening approaches to identify new antibiotics and recently characterized a number of translation inhibitors with novel chemical scaffolds. One of them, Amicoumacin A was characterized in detail, including structure determination (in collaboration by Tom Steitz, the Nobel prize winner for structure of ribosome). These studies vividly demonstrated the fundamental and drug discovery impacts of the new methodology.
Recently, several new translational inhibitors were characterized in details by means of microbiological and structural methods.
Also, Ilya work with eukaryotic cells, he is trying to find the targets for the putative methyltransferases and to investigate their function, by means of genome editing with CRISP-Cas9 system in cell lines and in mice.
At Skoltech, Ilya works in the area of eukaryotic genome editing and continues screening of new translation inhibitors
2004 – 2009 Specialist, Lomonosov MSU, Chemistry Dept, Moscow, Russia
2009 – 2012 PhD, Lomonosov MSU, Chemistry Dept, Moscow, Russia
Screening and study of new antibiotics – translation inhibitors and SOS-response inducers
Genome editing of antibiotic producers.
Bacterial translation and ribosome.
Study of the functional role of the eukaryoyic methyltransferasas by means of genome knock-out in mice or cell lines with CRISPR-Cas9 systems.
2010 – winner of the contest of innovative projects “I5”.
2011 – RSBMB Russian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
2013 – winner of the contest “Impudent Young Promising”
2013 – winner of the European Academy prize for young scientist
2014 – winner of the grant for young biologist from Dynastia fund
2012 and 2015 – winner presidential scholarship for young scientist
2015 – winner of the contest for young scientists of the Lomonosov Moscow State University
2015 – winner of the medal of Russian academy of science for young scientists
2016 – winner of the prize of Russian government for young scientists
2019 – winner of the prize of Moscow government for young scientists