Protein trafficking is an essential process required for the health and proper functioning of all cells, tissues and systems of the human body. Dysfunction of the trafficking machinery leads to cellular traffic jams, a hallmark of many devastating diseases, such as diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, cystic fibrosis and more.

Our lab studies the extensive and highly regulated protein trafficking network and addressing major enigmas in the field such as:

1. How are billions of proteins shuttled from their site of origin to their final destination?
2. How is the system regulated to ensure proper recognition and elimination of defective proteins?
3. How do these pathways go awry in human diseases?
4. And finally, how can we fix these defective pathways?

Using state-of-the-art imaging technology, the lab conducts high content screening (through genetic CRISPR manipulations, pharmacological perturbations, small molecule libraries, etc.) in complex biological systems, including: mammalian cells, 3D cultures, organoids and mouse models. Our aim is to better understand basic protein trafficking processes and develop therapeutic strategies to combat diseases that result from trafficking malfunction.