Projects
We are interested in the regulation and function of protein turnover,
homeostasis, and secretion in development, senescence, and diseases. Our work leverages advances in
proteomics, bioinformatics, and human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models. Two current areas
of focus are:
What is the role of protein turnover and homeostasis during cell fate transitions?
Our lab develops analytical and computational methods that can measure the individual turnover
rates and half-life of thousands of protein species in complex systems.
These techniques have been used to reveal changes in protein synthesis and degradation in animal models
and discover new disease signatures. A current focus is to understand the regulation and function of
protein quality control and proteolysis during cellular differentiation, stress, and senescence in iPSC systems.
How do cells in the body communicate through secreted RNAs and proteins?
In recent work, we have mapped secreted non-coding RNAs from multiple cell types
derived from human iPSCs (cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells, fibroblasts) that may function in intercellular communications
and that may be harnessed as a quantitative metric to assess the differentiation status and purity of
hPSC-derived cardiac cells. In ongoing work, we are leveraging this approach to model the
longitudinal changes in cellular communication networks under stress and disease using a combination of
computational modeling and proteomics strategies.
Work in the laboratory is supported by funding from an NIH/NIGMS R35 MIRA award, an NIH/NHLBI K99/R00 award,
NIH/OD R03 award, as well as the University of Colorado Consortium for Fibrosis Research & Translation.
We are looking for undergraduates, post-bacs, and graduate students! Come work with us if you are interested in protein regulations and wish to hone your research skills in
a friendly and supportive environment!