Dr Jonathan W. Mueller PhD DSc SFHEA

• Senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), Beacon Programme, University of Birmingham, 2021
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), Beacon Programme, University of Birmingham, 2019
• Distinguished visiting fellow at the Krupp Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Greifswald, Germany, 2015
• Habilitation (DSc equivalent) in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Duisburg and Essen, Germany, 2012
• PhD in Biochemistry, University of Halle and Wittenberg, Germany, 2004
• Biochemistry diploma (MA equivalent, With Honours), University of Halle and Wittenberg, Germany, 2001

A protein biochemist by training, Dr Mueller earned his PhD at Max Planck Institute Dortmund working with Peter Bayer. He continued working with Peter, then as post-doctoral and senior post-doc researcher at the University of Duisburg and Essen.

Jon’s interest in sulfation pathways was sparked by two EMBO visiting research fellowships, 2007 and 2011, with Annalisa Pastore at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research in London, which is now part of the Crick Research Institute.

In 2012, Jon moved to Birmingham as a Marie Curie Senior Research Fellow to work on the sulfation of steroid hormones with Wiebke Arlt. Here in Birmingham, Jon now is Associate Professor of Endocrine Biochemistry, within the School of Medical Sciences.

Dr Mueller is co-leading the first-year module Health Sciences 1 within the MPharm programme. Within medicine, he delivers first-year endocrinology, and pharmacology teaching.

Jon is the MPharm tutor for reasonable adjustment plans for our students.

Teaching excellence, innovation, and the recognition of teaching excellence are important to Dr Mueller. He serves on the university-wide BEACON panel for teaching accreditation. Jon always is up for mentoring colleagues towards their (S)FHEA applications.

EDI teaching and training are part of Jon’s role as EDI lead. He delivers training sessions on academic skills and wellbeing, as well as at gender and career topics, both intramurally and externally.

In the context of widening participation, Jon delivers masterclasses, such as “Interested in the Biochemistry of Life?” or “Mighty steroids and how to tame them” to for A level students. He also hosts A-level students, in part together with Nuffield Foundation.

In 2019, and again 2020, Dr Mueller has been the proud recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Award for all MDS, awarded by the Guild of Students and the Vice Chancellor

Dr Mueller welcomes diversity in his group. He is always interested in getting in touch with young scientists who are interested in the group’s research activities. Please get in touch if you plan a lab placement or like to join the lab as a PhD or a postdoc.

Dr Mueller’s research aims for an understanding of the structure and function of proteins. PAPS synthases have been the group’s research focus for many years. Ground-breaking work was the first biophysical characterisation of these enzymes [JBC 2012] that identified PAPSS2 as marginally stable protein. Work that has been reviewed [Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences 2019] and significantly expanded recently [Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences 2021 and 2022]. It will be exciting to see how stability and other biophysical properties of these important proteins are affected, when studied within the living cell.

Dr Mueller’s research into sulfation pathways is strongly informed by studying patients with genetic defects in different components of the sulfation machinery. In this way he realised that loss-of-function of the sulfation enzyme PAPSS2 cannot be compensated by the related enzyme PAPSS1 [JCEM 2015]. Recently, they reported a novel protein interaction between PAPSS2 and the sulfotransferase SULT2A1 [JBC 2018]. On these grounds, Dr Mueller postulated that sulfate activation by PAPS synthases is an additional layer of regulation in sulfation pathways.

Structure and function of sulfation enzymes of plant and human origins are of interest to the group. Jon contributed to a study analysing the redox regulation of the plant PAP phosphatase Sal1 [PNAS 2016] and the structural elucidation of the plant sulfotransferase SOT18 [Science Reports 2017]. Together with colleagues, Jon reviewed sulfation pathways at the intersection of “red” and “green” biosciences [JBC 2019]. Clear evidence how insightful it can be to “look over the fence” of one’s own speciality

In true SciArt projects, Jon has created conference posters and journal cover art, together with artists. This collaboration was presented at the university’s Worlds collide seminar series. Jon has presented photography-based digital artwork at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts at Recovery Art exhibitions.

External positions of responsibility

• Board member at the Canadian Institutes for Health Research Catalyst Grant: Sex as a Variable in Biomedical Research, Ottawa, Canada, 2017/2018
• Referee for the European Union Marie Skłodowska Curie individual fellowships, from 2017 until today
• Member of the joint Editorial Board of the Journal of Molecular Endocrinology and Journal of Endocrinology, since 2018
• Referee and guest editor of various scientific journals

Conference organisation

• S•Bio 2024 Conference on Plant & Human Sulfur Biology, 8–12 September 2024, Pont-à-Mousson, France
• S•Bio 2021 Conference on Plant & Human Sulfur Biology, 26–30 September, Sevilla, Spain
• S•Bio 2017 Conference on Plant & Human Sulfur Biology, 10–14 September, Lake Balaton, Hungary
• SUPA 2023 Conference, 12–14 September, Birmingham, UK
• SUPA 2019 Conference, 11–12 April, Rauischholzhausen Castle, Germany
• SUPA 2017 Conference, 23–25 April, Birmingham, UK
• SUPA 2015 Conference, 28–30 September, Greifswald, Germany