Meet Fatema Zahra

Fatema Zahra

I’m thrilled to join the EVOLF consortium as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. dr. Gijs Wuite at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam to develop a minimal DNA replication module for synthetic cells.

Hi! I’m Fatema Zahra, and I am fascinated with prokaryotes and their chromosomes. I’m thrilled to join the EVOLF consortium as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. dr. Gijs Wuite at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam to develop a minimal DNA replication module for synthetic cells. My interest in prokaryotic chromosome biology developed at the laboratory of Prof. dr. Remus Dame where I worked at prior to joining EVOLF. There, I studied the interplay between local, three-dimensional chromatin organisation and gene transcription in Escherichia coli.  

Outside of work, I love travelling and hiking. In May 2024, I hiked up to Mount Kilimanjaro’s Uhuru peak in Tanzania, and in November of 2023, I walked the Tiger leaping gorge in Lijiang, China. In the near future, I’d like to walk the Pieterpad in the eastern part of the Netherlands and the Kungsleden in Swedish Lapland. I like playing video games and board games and I occasionally join the Board Game Sundays organised by Amsterdice. I also enjoy reading, biking, theatre, and modern art.

I. Love. Coffee! If I wasn’t working in a lab, I’d work at a roastery.