I'm a broadly trained protein chemist and cell biologist. My research focuses on ‘protein aggregation diseases’ with special emphasis on age related neurodegenerative disorders such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), prion diseases, and Huntington’s disease (HD). In these diseases, misfolded proteins are observed as intracellular or extracellular aggregates at the end stage of the disease. However, the underlying mechanism(s) by which these aggregated proteins impair cellular function(s) and cause toxicity is not clear and is a subject of intense debate. My laboratory is applying unique biochemical and biophysical approaches (including novel fluorescent molecules) to characterize the inherent vulnerability and instability of proteins associated with different neurodegenerative diseases. The long-term research goal of the lab is to understand consequences of protein misfolding and aggregation in vitro and how it relates to misfolding and aggregation in vivo, and its implication for neurodegenerative diseases.