Date: 15 January 2026 (Thursday) 
Time: 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, G/F, William M.W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road
Host: Professor Tao Ni

Till Böcking studied biochemistry at the University of Bonn in Germany followed by PhD in biophysics at UNSW with Hans Coster and a postdoc in chemistry with Justin Gooding focusing on molecular self-assembly. He then headed to Boston as a Cross-Disciplinary HFSP Fellow to work on the endocytosis machinery with cell biologist Tom Kirchhausen at Harvard Medical School. Till now leads the Molecular Machines Group at the EMBL Australia Node in Single Molecule Science at UNSW Sydney. His research is focused on resolving the assembly/disassembly pathways of supramolecular protein machines using single-molecule fluorescence microscopy.

The HIV capsid is not just a passive container but it is an active machine that protects the viral genome, directs transport through the cell and into the nucleus, and controls the release of viral DNA for integration. Using single-molecule imaging, we have uncovered how HIV builds a capsid that is both remarkably stable and precisely tuned to fall apart at just the right moment. The talk will discuss how this delicate balance can be exploited therapeutically. The capsid inhibitor Lenacapavir hyperstabilises the lattice so effectively that the capsid becomes brittle and breaks, leading to loss of compartmentalisation and reverse transcription. Together, these findings show how understanding how the HIV capsid assembles and breaks can reveal new ways to stop the virus in its tracks.