Biosketch

I am one of the leading experts in the redox thiol signaling field and my lab has a tradition of solving protein structures in which thiol-disulfide exchanges are part of the catalytic mechanism and in studying protein dynamics induced by thiol modifications. By using a combination of biophysical, biochemical, and structural techniques, we identify redox-sensitive proteins and determine the architecture and conformational flexibility of redox-relay signaling complexes. To understand the crosstalk between redox and metabolite signaling, we develop new tools for sensing subcellular metabolic flux. The importance of redox signaling for the proper functioning of the cell is being increasingly recognized, and the elucidation of the precise mechanisms and players is becoming critical, as it will allow us to manipulate these pathways with a wide variety of implications, ranging from increasing stress resistance in plants to identifying therapeutic targets in diseases where aberrant redox signaling plays a role. The main topics that we currently are studying include (i) How proteins signal via protein conformational changes, (ii) Identification of peroxide signaling facilitators, (iii) Organellar redox trafficking, (iv) Design of (redox) metabolite indicator tools based on protein dynamics.

As the PI of an academic lab, one of my core values is to foster the educational progress of scientists at all levels; I have supervised fifteen postdoctoral fellows, promoted seventeen doctoral students, and have promoted more than twenty students at both the masters and bachelor’s levels. Former doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows of my lab have taken positions at several prestigious institutes, universities, and companies all over the world.

I have a strong, proven background as a leader in regard to both scientific and logistical (e.g. staffing, budget) aspects of research, and have collaborated with a substantial number of national and international researchers, producing several peer-reviewed publications from each project. Over the course of my career, I have organized and chaired numerous scientific meetings and conferences within the field.