Research Interests
Our laboratory focuses on understanding molecular mechanisms contributing to Parkinson’s disease (PD) pathogenesis. We’re particularly interested in understanding how loss of genome integrity contributes to PD by investigating its consequences, such as mutagenesis, cell cycle re-entry, and cell death.
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Molecular subtypes in Parkinson's disease
We work on understanding Parkinson’s disease at a molecular level. To do so, we employ transcriptomics techniques and leverage the power of biobanks to identify gene-phenotype associations. Our goal is to characterize disease signatures in idiopathic and genetic models of Parkinson’s disease and in human brain tissue.
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DNA damage and mutagenesis in Parkinson's disease
We want to better understand the consequences of DNA damage accumulation in Parkinson’s disease, especifically how it can lead to somatic mutagenesis. Our goal is to characterize mutational signatures in genetic PD and in sporadic disease linked to environmental exposures.
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DNA damage and neuronal cell death
Accumulation of DNA damage has been shown to trigger cell cycle re-entry in neurons. We aim to mechanistically define how this occurs (timing and lesion threshold) and understand how it can modulate DNA repair, or lead to cell death.