Jonathan Whicher
Principal Scientist Novartis AG
Protein biochemist and structural biologist with a strong publication record and 10 years of experience in designing and conducting independent research projects. Expertise in purification and structure determination of soluble and membrane proteins as well as functional characterization of enzymes, protein-protein interactions, and ion channels.
Seminars
- Integrating rapid construct screening approaches to optimize design, expression, and protein yield
- Developing robust biophysical assays to validate screening hits and prioritize targets for structural studies
- Implementing end-to-end cryo-EM workflows including grid preparation and screening, data processing, model building, and structure interpretation
Cryo-EM is now a routine part of many discovery pipelines, yet misunderstanding around how data is generated, what its limitations are, and how long it takes, continue to create friction between structural biologists and the wider discovery team.
This workshop is designed to give non-specialists and structural scientists working cross-functionally; a clear, realistic understanding of the Cryo-EM workflow, from sample preparation and data collection through to model interpretation, without turning the session into a technical training course. The goal is not to teach attendees how to run a microscope or process raw data, but to help them understand what is happening behind
the scenes, why certain experiments succeed or fail, and how that impacts timelines
and decision confidence.
By building shared literacy across structural biology, computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and biology, this workshop aims to improve feedback cycles, reduce unnecessary structural effort, and help teams ask better questions of Cryo-EM, before, during, and after data generation.
Workshop Highlights:
- A high-level walkthrough of sample preparation, data collection, and reconstruction, focused on why these steps matter for timelines, resolution, and interpretability
- Understanding the limits of Cryo-EM data and how this can affect downstream design decisions
- Exploring how the availability of predictive models changes when experimental structures are needed, and when cryo-EM is essential to resolving uncertainty
- Helping non-Cryo specialists understand what they can (and cannot) conclude from Cryo-EM data to improve overall communication between structural biologists, chemists and modelers
