The theme of our research is aggregation and how it controls different physiological processes.

The specific problem we are interested is understanding the mechanism of long lasting memory. The question here is how molecules having a limited half life can maintain memory over a duration of life time. Our previous work has shown the prion-like properties associated with a protein synthesis regulator Orb2 is crucial for this. Interfering with the prion-like aggregation blocks persistence of long lasting memory without effecting its formation. We are currently working on understanding the upstream and downstream molecular mechanism associated with Orb2. We also are working on disease models ranging from neurodegenerative diseases associated with misfolded amyloids to autism spectrum disorders.

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We use the common fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster as the model system for our studies. The tools that we use range from molecular biology, protein purifications, protein biochemistry and imaging. We also plan to use next generation sequencing tools, and behavior experiments for our projects.