Our research focuses on the biochemistry of protein folding. Our mission is to contribute to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying protein misfolding and aggregation that occur in numerous protein folding diseases – the so called proteinopathies – that include for instance Alzheimer’s Disease.
We study the formation of misfolded proteins, aggregates and amyloids and we investigate how chemicals (e.g. metal ions and small molecules) and biochemical factors (e.g. other proteins) that are present in the cellular environments contribute to these processes.
As experimental models we study disease-related human proteins such as the amyloid beta peptide and we combine biochemical, biophysics and molecular approaches we investigate the mechanisms of protein folding and the consequences of protein misfolding, and how this impacts on biochemical processes in health and disease.
Our research laboratory is affiliated to BioISI, Biosystems and Integrative Sciences Institute.