Mentor Areas
Disaggregases; Neurodegeneration; Phase transitions; Molecular Chaperones; Therapeutics.
Description:
Neurodegenerative diseases and other protein-misfolding disorders (e.g. ALS/FTD, PD, AD, HD) represent a longstanding biomedical challenge, and effective therapies remain largely elusive. This failure is due, in part, to the recalcitrant and diverse nature of misfolded protein conformers. Recent work has uncovered that many aggregation-prone proteins can also undergo liquid-liquid phase separation, a process by which macromolecules self-associate to form dense condensates with liquid properties that are compositionally distinct from the bulk cellular milieu. Efforts to combat diseases caused by toxic protein states focus on exploiting or enhancing the proteostasis machinery to prevent and reverse pathological protein conformations. In the Shorter lab, we use a variety of techniques to elucidate and engineer therapeutic agents ranging from protein disaggregases, RNA disaggregases, short RNAs, and small-molecule drugs to combat the diverse aberrant protein states that underlie protein-misfolding disorders. We are seeking several undergrads to join the team in 2022.
Preferred Qualifications
Chemistry, biochemistry, biophysics, neuroscience, cell biology background preferred. We are seeking several undergrads to join the team in 2022.
Details:
Preferred Student Year
First-year, Second-Year, Junior, Senior
Project Academic Year
2023–2024
Volunteer
Yes
Paid
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to paying students they engage in their research, regardless of their work-study eligibility.Work Study
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to hiring work-study-eligible students.