Rate My Professor Mihnea Bostina

Associate Professor Mihnea Bostina is a virologist and Academic Lead of the Otago Centre for Electron Microscopy in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Otago. He holds an MSc from Bucharest, a PhD from the Max Planck Institute, conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School from 2005 to 2010, served as Senior Research Fellow at McGill University from 2010 to 2013, and joined the University of Otago in July 2013.

His research centers on structural biology, viral pathogenesis, and molecular virology, using cryo-electron microscopy and electron tomography to reveal molecular architectures and their functional roles. Key projects include structural studies of Seneca Valley Virus, an oncolytic picornavirus that targets cancer cells via anthrax toxin receptor ANTXR1, encompassing virus-receptor interactions, infection-induced cellular remodeling, and breast cancer therapy development; bacteriophage structures for antibiotic resistance countermeasures, agricultural biocontrol, and wastewater treatment in collaboration with Peter Fineran; and iridovirus capsid architectures for photonic applications with Vernon Ward. Notable publications feature "Poliovirus RNA is released from the capsid near a twofold symmetry axis" (Journal of Virology, 2011), "Catching a virus in the act of RNA release: a novel poliovirus uncoating intermediate characterized by cryo-electron microscopy" (Journal of Virology, 2010), "Anthrax toxin receptor 1 is the cellular receptor for Seneca Valley virus" (The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2017), "Spacer capture and integration by a type I-F Cas1–Cas2-3 CRISPR adaptation complex" (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017), "Cryo-EM structure of the Seneca Valley virus A-particle and related structural states" (Journal of Virology, 2025), "Cryo-EM structure of bacteriophage Bas63 reveals structural conservation and diversity in the Felixounavirus genus" (Science Advances, 2025), and "Global structural survey of the flagellotropic myophage φTE infecting agricultural pathogen Pectobacterium atrosepticum" (Nature Communications, 2025). His scholarship has garnered over 2,239 citations on Google Scholar, influencing virology and structural biology.