TEAM MEMBERS
to join us as a student or researcher, reach out to Patrick
PATRICK PAUSCH, PH.D.
Group Leader, Research Professor
Patrick obtained his PhD from Philipps University Marburg, Germany, after which he pursued a Postdoc at UC Berkeley, USA, before leading the Pausch Lab at the VU LSC-EMBL Partnership Institute for Genome Editing Technologies in Vilnius, Lithuania. During his PhD and postdoctoral work, Patrick investigated a range of nucleic acid interacting stress response factors and adaptive immune systems from bacteria, also contributing to the development of novel CRISPR genome editing tools derived from jumbo bacteriophages.
Beyond science, Patrick enjoys cycling in and around Vilnius and occasionally tours on his motorcycle.
ROKAS GRIGAITIS, PH.D.
Post-Doctoral EMBO Fellow
Rokas was born and raised in Vilnius, where he obtained his BSc and MSc degrees in Biochemistry at Vilnius University. Rokas earned his doctorate in natural sciences with Prof. Joao Matos at ETH Zurich. Throughout his career, he has studied bacterial anti-phage defense systems, eukaryotic homologous recombination and DNA repair. In Dr. Pausch’s group, Rokas studies nucleic acid metabolism disrupting factors from bacteriophages, aiming to discover and develop a new generation of biotechnological tools.
Besides his scientific interests, Rokas enjoys doing sports, reading books and going on long hikes into the wilderness.
AISTĖ SKORUPSKAITĖ, PH.D.
Post-Doctoral LRC (LMT) Fellow
Aistė obtained her BSc in Biomolecular Science at the University of St Andrews where her final year project focused on developing a selectively labelled dimer of Streptococcal M protein. Following that, Aistė completed her doctorate at the University of Oxford working on structural and biochemical characterisation of metallo-β-lactamase superfamily enzymes. Aistė has also spent three years in biotechnology industry purifying difficult target proteins for diverse applications. In our lab, Aistė is studying structures of CRISPR-Cas systems to aid development of new genome editing tools.
Outside of the lab, Aistė enjoys playing board games, baking, and travelling.
MONIKA JASNAUSKAITĖ, M.SC.
Graduate Student and Laboratory Manager
Monika obtained her BSc and MSc degrees in Molecular biology at Vilnius university. During her Bachelor’s project, Monika researched the impact of chromatin remodeling agents on myeloid leukaemia cell lines. Throughout her Master’s project, she investigated In vitro evolution methods in order to increase reverse transcriptase resistance to inhibitors.
RIMVYDĖ ČEPAITĖ, M.SC.
Graduate Student
Rimvydė obtained her BSc in Microbiology and Biotechnology. During her Bachelor’s project, Rimvydė researched the bacteriocin gene expression in Paenibacillus sp. After her Bachelor’s studies, she interned at the University of Amsterdam where she investigated the functions of the EcPBP2-RodA protein complex in cell division. For her Master's thesis, Rimvydė characterized beta-carbonic anhydrases from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In Dr Pausch’s group, Rimvydė is investigating non canonical CRISPR-Cas systems, aiming to discover and develop new genome editing tools.
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SHARVIKA KHOCHARE, M.SC.
Graduate Student
Sharvika was born and raised in Mumbai, India, from where she obtained her bachelor degree in Biotechnology engineering before a short stint in the pharmaceutical industry producing recombinant proteins. Sharvika received her masters form Indian institute of Technology, Jodhpur, where she studied the role of RNA chaperones in virulence of Klebsiella pneumonia.
In the Pausch lab, Sharvika will be working on the identification of novel nucleic acid manipulating factors using functional genomics of large prokaryotic mobile genetic elements.
Besides her scientific interests, Sharvika enjoys sports and music.
Radvilas Bendorys
Jr. Scientist
Radvilas completed his undergraduate education at the Vilnius University Life Sciences Center, where he studied Biochemistry. During his BSc and MSc studies, Radvilas was investigating DNA methyltransferases in the laboratory of Prof. Klimašauskas. In Prof. Pausch’s group, Radvilas is working on the development of next-generation genome editing tools.
UGNĖ VOLBEKAITĖ
M.Sc. Researcher
Ugnė obtained her BSc. Biological Sciences degree at University of Essex and is currently enrolled in Vilnius University's M.Sc. Molecular biology program. During her third-year research project at the University of Essex, Ugnė engineered synthetic biosensors to track the movement of hydrogen peroxide molecules under the oxidizing stress conditions in plant cells. In our lab, Ugnė works on her master's thesis under the supervision of Rimvyde Cepaite, studying CRISPR-Cas systems and applications in eukaryotic cells.
Besides Ugnė’s scientific interest, Ugnė is really passionate about cars and watching Formula 1 races (supporting the Scuderia Ferrari team), as well as photographing, fishing, hiking, and other sports.
GINTARĖ ŽVEJYTĖ
Undergraduate Researcher
Gintarė is an undergraduate student at Vilnius University, pursuing a BSc degree in Molecular Biology. She is doing an internship at Dr Pausch’s lab learning about methods of molecular biology and biochemistry. In her free time, she volunteers at a non-profit educational organization LGMOA – Oranžiniai that focuses on the organisation of natural sciences olympiads and educational programs for school students.
AUGUSTAS CIBULSKIS
Undergraduate Researcher
Augustas is pursuing a BSc degree in Molecular Biology at Vilnius University. He is an intern in Dr. Pausch's lab under the supervision of Monika Jasnauskaitė. The focus of his internship is prokaryotic antiviral defense systems. He is also an alumnus of the Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM team, where he worked on solving problems using synthetic biology.
Outside his studies, Augustas enjoys trivia game nights and stays active with cycling, running, and team sports.
MIGLĖ PAULIKAITĖ
Undergraduate Researcher
Miglė is an undergraduate student at Vilnius University, where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Genetics. In the lab, she studies molecular biology research methods under the supervision of Monika Jasnauskaite. Beyond her academic pursuits, Miglė is actively involved in the Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM team this year. Her role includes educating the public about the wonders of science and addressing issues through the application of synthetic biology.
Pausch lab alumni
2024
Kristina Kazlauskaitė (B.Sc. intern)
Martyna Stankevičiūtė (B.Sc. intern)
Viktoras Ragožius (short term project scientist)
2023
Daria Ponomariova (M.Sc. intern)
Aiste Zidonyte (Undergrad intern)