Research

Cancer emerges when the molecular systems that normally govern cellular identity and behaviour become rewired. Our research seeks to understand how interactions between proteins, metabolites, and nucleic acids establish cellular states that enable tumour initiation, adaptation, and progression.

We combine functional proteomics, genomics, and cancer models to uncover the molecular assemblies that control cell fate. By defining how these regulatory networks are organized in healthy and malignant cells, we aim to identify vulnerabilities that can be targeted therapeutically.

Research Themes

Protein Assemblies and Cellular Organisation

Proteins rarely act alone. Instead, they assemble into dynamic molecular networks that coordinate signalling, gene regulation, RNA processing, and stress responses. We investigate how proteins organise into functional assemblies, including biomolecular condensates, and how these structures influence cellular behaviour. Particular emphasis is placed on RNA-binding proteins and their roles in establishing tumour-promoting states in adult brain cancers.

By understanding how protein assemblies are formed, regulated, and disrupted in disease, we aim to reveal mechanisms that drive cancer cell survival and plasticity.

Metabolic Regulation of Cellular Function

Metabolism provides more than energy and biosynthetic building blocks. Metabolites can directly influence protein function, cellular signalling, and gene regulation. Our research explores how protein-metabolite interactions shape cancer cell behaviour and how altered metabolic states reprogramme molecular function. We are particularly interested in understanding how metabolic signals modify protein activities and contribute to the emergence of tumour-specific phenotypes.

Defining these connections may uncover new opportunities to therapeutically target cancer-specific metabolic dependencies.

Chromatin organisation and Gene Regulation

Gene expression is controlled by the spatial organisation of chromatin within the nucleus. Emerging evidence suggests that biomolecular condensates regulate chromatin architecture by concentrating transcription factors, chromatin regulators, and RNA molecules at specific genomic regions.

We investigate how condensate-mediated organisation of chromatin influences gene regulation in childhood brain tumours. Our goal is to understand how alterations in nuclear condensates promote oncogenic transcriptional programmes and cancer cell identity.