K. (Kristina) Lanko, PhD

In the Barakat lab I'm working on two research lines: investigation of novel pathogenic variants underlying neurodevelopmental disorders and understanding the regulation of gene expression in health and disease. We are particularly interested in the non-coding genome, both in its fundamental and applied aspects. Our research is based on synergy between clinical, computational and in vitro data-with the ultimate goal to gain better understanding of genetic diseases, diagnostics and patient care.

• PhD of Biomedical sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium My PhD-research  focused on antiviral strategies against neurotropic viruses (Picornaviridae and Zika virus).
• Masters in Molecular biotechnology, Saint-Petersburg State Technological Institute, Saint-Petersburg, Russia.

Antiviral effects of selected nucleoside analogues against human parechoviruses A1 and A3. Lanko K, Ma Y, Delang L, Mirabelli C, Neyts J (2019) Antiviral Res 162: 51–53, DOI: 10.1016/J.ANTIVIRAL.2018.12.009.

Replication of the Zika virus in different iPSC-derived neuronal cells and implications to assess efficacy of antivirals. Lanko K, Eggermont K, Patel A, Kaptein S, Delang L, Verfaillie CM, Neyts J (2017) Antiviral Res 145: 82–86, DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2017.07.010

Viral engagement with host (co-) receptors blocked by a novel class of tryptophan dendrimers that targets the 5-fold-axis of the enterovirus-A71 capsid. Sun L, Lee H, Thibaut HJ, Lanko K, Rivero-Buceta E, Bator C, Martinez-Gualda B, Dallmeier K, Delang L, Leyssen P, Gago F, San-Félix A, Hafenstein S, Mirabelli C & Neyts J (2019). PLOS Pathog. 15: e1007760, DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007760.

Alpha-ketoamides as broad-spectrum inhibitors of coronavirus and enterovirus replication. Zhang L, Lin D, Kusov Y, Nian Y, Ma Q, Wang J, Brunn A von, Leyssen P, Lanko K, Neyts J, Wilde A de, Snijder EJ, Liu H & Hilgenfeld R (2020) . J. Med. Chem. 63(9): 4562-4578, DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b01828.