OUR TEAM
Members of our laboratory bring unique skills and experiences that strengthen our research and community:
Team photos: 2023 Jurgita Satkūnaitė
PROF. STEPHEN JONES
Principle Investigator
Dr. Jones is an ERC Grantee, EMBO Young Investigator and Vilnius University Research Professor. He was born and trained in the United States, where he earned his doctorate in Molecular Biology, Cellular Biology and Biochemistry at Brown University with Dr. Richard Bennett. He produced his postdoctoral research in CRISPR biochemistry and cellular aging with Dr. Ilya Finkelstein at the University of Texas. In 2021, he established his research group at the EMBL Partnership Institute in Vilnius University's Life Sciences Center, where he leads the group in their search to discover and characterize CRISPR and other programmable nucleases with next-generation biochemistry.
Stephen lives in Vilnius, Lithuania with his wife Eva and their greyhound, Audrey Sparkles. Beyond science, Stephen is also a musician, mechanic, adventurer and lover of life.
DR. JONAS KUBILIUS
Scientist in Residence
Jonas is an experienced machine learning scientist, passionate about engineering foundational models of cell biology. Throughout his career, Jonas has pursued a multidisciplinary approach, having obtained degrees in math, physics, artificial intelligence, and cognitive neuroscience. Following his Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship at MIT where he developed deep learning models of primate visual system, Jonas co-founded and led Three Thirds, an AI solutions firm, and HERlab, a startup focused on developing novel protein expression systems. The beauty and vast uncharted territories of biology has led Jonas to join Jones Lab to learn wet lab techniques and breeze into the new world of AI-driven biology.
Jonas' passion for biology extends into the domains of nutrition and longevity (he is vegan and loves cooking), synthetic life and post-anthropocentric art (he has collaborated with Urbonas Studio on exhibitions at La Biennale di Venezia, Taipei Biennial, ZKM, and others).
Doctoral Student
Uzair joins our lab from Chiniot, Pakistan where he was born and raised. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Bioinformatics and Biotechnology at Government College University Faisalabad and joined the lab of Dr. M. Shareef Masoud where he worked on stem cell therapeutics. He started his master's degree from the same lab but got selected for an exchange program at University of Health Sciences, Lahore where he engaged in finding the diagnostic and therapeutic implications of miRNAs in human diseases. In Dr. Jones Group, Uzair will investigate if and how gRNA-DNA sequence parity alters the repair outcomes of editing with CRISPR nucleases.
Besides academic interests, Uzair enjoys fiddling with tech and software, playing video games, and watching anime.
UZAIR AHMED
IEVA JASKOVIKAITE
Doctoral Student
Ieva began her life and education in Kaunas, Lithuania. She then spent three years abroad at the University of Manchester, where she completed her bachelor studies in biomedical sciences. She did not stop there, and now holds a master's degree in molecular biotechnology and is currently doing a PhD in biochemistry. Ieva is beyond excited to be a part of Dr. Jones’ laboratory, in a team that pushes our understanding of science even further.
LINA KRIKSCIKAITE
Doctoral Student
Lina is a Vilnius native and one of our experts on the area. While attending a local gymnasium, Lina became curious about many different topics and saw herself as a future artist. But as she watched her brother begin his studies in physics, her own interest in the life sciences began to flourish. This influenced her to pursue the goal of becoming a scientist and study at Vilnius University. Now she is working on a PhD in Biochemistry and continuing to grow her love and passion for life’s mysteries.
Beyond the laboratory, Lina enjoys sharing scientific news and ideas with her family and friends, reading books, learning vintage photography, writing poetry, and taking her dog Gilė on long evening walks.
UZAIR AHMED
MARIUS VINOGRADOVAS
Doctoral Student
Marius is from Lithuania's second largest city, Kaunas. He earned his BS and MS degrees from Vilnius University, most recently in Systems Biology. Now, Marius pursues his PhD in Biochemistry with our group, where he focuses on biochemical and computational strategies for benchmarking gene editing tools of different types, including nucleases, base editors and prime editors.
URTE GLIBAUSKAITE
Masters Researcher
Urtė, originally from Vilnius, Lithuania, holds a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from Vilnius University and is currently pursuing her Master's in the same field. In her undergraduate years, she discovered her passion for chemistry and biology, leading her to the dynamic world of biochemistry. Now in her Master's program, Urtė is actively engaged in Dr. Jones' laboratory, specializing in the development of high-throughput characterization strategies for phylogenetically diverse CRISPR-Cas nucleases. This hands-on experience allows her to further cultivate her love for science.
Beyond academia, Urtė, a former member of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union, expresses her creativity through sewing and finds joy in outdoor bike riding.
FAUSTA MICHNEVICIUTE
Undergraduate Researcher
Fausta grew up surrounded by forests and lakes in Moletai and currently is living in Vilnius. She is now entering her second year at Vilnius University majoring in Molecular biology. Fausta was inspired to dive into the scientific world via the VU iGEM team and their past projects. She is passionate about science, new opportunities, and future development. That’s why she is an organizer for the International Life Sciences conference - The COINS. Currently, at Dr. Jones’ lab she is learning methods used in the molecular biology laboratory and helping others with their research projects. Fausta is looking forward to deepening and expanding her knowledge and practical skills in the science field.
AGATA KIPRAN
Masters Researcher
Agata hails from Vilnius, Lithuania. In childhood, she discovered her strong passion for life. As years passed, she became more and more fascinated by nature. This passion led her to study microbiology at Vilnius University. Agata has always dreamed of working in a top-notch laboratory, where she could challenge herself academically and become a remarkable scientist. She's beginning to realize her dream in the Jones laboratory, where designs DNA libraries for studying CRISPR nucleases. Beyond her earning bachelor's degree, Agata will gain knowledge, spend time with enthusiastic scientists, and contribute to the laboratory's successes.
Outside of academia, Agata is fond of spending time with her family and playing with her dog, Nugget. She's always down for an adventure!
URSULE BARKAUSKAITE
Undergraduate Researcher
Uršulė was born and raised in Vilnius, Lithuania. She attended a local Gymnasium in Denmark, where she earned an International Baccalaureate Diploma. Fascinated by the broad application possibilities of the Natural Sciences, she decided to study in Vilnius University Life Sciences Center, where she is completing the Microbiology Bachelors program. Alongside her studies, Uršulė is a member of the Vilnius University Students’ Representation (VU SA), where she organizes events and practices advocacy of her fellow students. She is thrilled to start uncovering the depths of CRISPR technologies along with Dr. Jones’ Team members and hopes to broaden her understanding of scientific research by assisting in practical lab work and developing her own lines of scientific inquiry.
AUDREY SPARKLES
Research Adviser
As our experienced Research Adviser, Audrey urges us to trust our senses and our data. She also reminds us that just because you can, doesn't mean you should! Most importantly, she recommends caring for your neighbor.
ALUMNI
DANIEL ADELAKIN
Daniel completed his Masters in Molecular Biotechnology as part of our team. Originally from Ibadan, Nigeria, he obtained his Bachelor's degree in Plant Science and Biotechnology at Adekunle Ajasin University. There, he developed a keen passion for biotechnology, fascinated by how it can solve emerging challenges faced by humans. From 2021 to 2024, Daniel joined us at the EMBL Partnership Institute in Vilnius University's Life Sciences Center, where he investigated how CRISPR nucleases coordinate with guide RNAs to enable targeted gene editing.
DR. ROKAS GRIGAITIS
Rokas contributed to the Jones!Lab as a postdoctoral researcher for two years. He obtained his BSc and MSc degrees in Biochemistry at Vilnius University and his doctorate in natural sciences with Prof. Joao Matos at ETH Zurich. While with us, Rokas developed high-throughput approaches to discover and characterize novel CRISPR nucleases, which was funded by an EMBO postdoctoral fellowship.
Rokas continues his research career with Dr. Patrick Pausch
VYTAUTAS MIŠKINIS
Vytautas works towards a Molecular Biology Bachelors degree at Vilnius University. His interest in CRISPR-CAS systems led him to the Jones Lab, which he joined in 2023. He pursued new ways to increase the throughput of CRISPR nuclease cloning and characterization. He continues to work with his main mentor, Dr. Rokas Grigaitis, within Dr. Patrick Pausch's research team.
_edited.jpg)
JUSTAS SVAGZDYS
As a member of the Jones!Lab, Justas earned his Bachelors degree in neurobiology and biophysics. His research focused on processing and analyzing data to help us understand how the Cas9 gene editing tool operates. In his free time, Justas enjoys creative writing (especially of short stories) and seeing his friends’ and relatives’ faces when they hear the details of his studies and research.