Sam Lacey
- Position: Royal Society University Research Fellow
- Areas of expertise: Cryo-electron tomography, cytoskeleton, molecular motors
- Email: S.E.Lacey@leeds.ac.uk
- Location: 8.112 Astbury
Profile
I studied Biological Sciences at Imperial College London, and obtained an MRes in Structural Biology at Birkbeck. Following this, I joined the Carter group at the MRC-LMB for my PhD, where I studied the structure and mechanics of the microtubule motor protein dynein. I then joined the Pigino group, initially at the MPI-CBG in Dresden, and then at the newly formed Human Technopole in Milan. There, I addressed a central conundrum in cilia biology: how do one set of Intraflagellar transport A/B (IFT-A/B) complexes selectively import and export cargoes to create a bespoke ciliary proteome? To answer this, I combined in situ cryo-electron tomography, cross-linking mass spectrometry, and
integrative molecular modelling to show how the dynamic structural conversion of anterograde into retrograde trains facilitates unique, direction-specific interactions with cargoes and microtubule motors.
In October 2026, I joined the University of Leeds as a Royal Society University Research Fellow.
Research interests
In 2026, I was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. At Leeds, my group will use in situ structural biology (primarily cryo-electron tomography) to unpick the ultrastructural adaptations the cytoskeleton uses to power cancer cell migration.
Qualifications
- BSc Biological Sciences, Imperial College London
- MRes Structural Biology, Birkbeck college, University of London
- PhD Biological Sciences, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Cambridge