For the great doesn’t happen through impulse alone, and is a succession of little things brought together.
Vincent Van Gogh

We are interested in the myriad of links that bring together the strands of RNA molecules, their links with proteins, and how these little links make life happen.

In particular, we focus on the roles of dynamic protein-RNA condensates, which form through large numbers of weak links. We wish to understand how these links enable selective RNA regulation, how they are rapidly modulated in response to cellular signals, how cross-regulation between proteins and RNAs in condensates contributes to cellular homeostasis, and how loss of such homeostasis contributes to neurodegenerative diseases. 

We also study transposable elements, genetic migrants with a vast potential for evolutionary innovations. Over a million of sequences derived from such elements are transcribed as part of our genes, and they bind to proteins that shape the gradual emergence of innovations in our RNAs through many small steps.

Inspired by insights gained from RNA, we migrate and collaborate across research fields, backgrounds, and nationalities. We like to bring together our different perspectives, as it is the spirit of connecting and sharing that counts the most.

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Primary collaborators

RNA Biology of Neurodegeneration

Giovanna Malucci - UK DRI at Cambridge

Nicholas L Fawzi - Brown University, USA

James Shorter - University of Pennsylvania, USA

Marc-David Ruepp - UK DRI at KCL

Chris Shaw - UK DRI at KCL

Sonia Gandhi - The Francis Crick Institute & UCL IoN

Rickie Patani - The Francis Crick Institute & UCL IoN

Pietro Fratta - UCL Institute of Neurology

Lorena Arancibia Carcamo - The Francis Crick Institute & UK DRI at UCL

Gianpietro Schiavo - UCL Institute of Neurology & UK DRI at UCL

Adrian Isaacs - UK DRI at UCL

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Related questions in RNA biology

Ben Blencowe - University of Toronto, Canada

Helen H. Fielding - Department of Chemistry, UCL

Dalibor Blazek - CEITEC, Brno, Czech Republic

Andrés Aguilera - Cabimer, Sevilla, Spain

Sila Ultanir - The Francis Crick Institute, London

Faraz Murdakheh - Barts Cancer Institute, London

Eugene Makeyev - King's College London

Kathryn S Lilley - University of CambridgeMichael Kiebler - Department of Cell Biology, LMU Munich

Andrzej Dziembowski - Warsaw University, Poland

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Computational RNA Biology

Nicholas Luscombe - Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan
Goodwright, London - a company developing iMaps v2

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Our work is supported by the generous funding of the following agencies:

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Primary funding:

1/2020 – 12/2024 Wellcome Trust; Senior Investigator Award, jointly with Nicholas Luscombe

10/2019 – 9/2024 European Research Council; ERC Advanced Grant

2014 – 2019 Wellcome Trust; Senior Investigator Award, jointly with Nicholas Luscombe

2014 – 2019 European Research Council; ERC Consolidator Grant

2008 – 2013 European Research Council; ERC Starting Grant

2006 - 2013 Medical Research Council (MRC); LMB core funding

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Other funding:

2015 – 2017 European Commission; Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship to Paulo Gameiro

2015 – 2017 European Commission; EMBO postdoctoral fellowship to Cristina Militti

2014 – 2016 European Commission; Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship to Lorea Blazquez

2013 – 2015 European Commission; Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship to Lilach Soreq

2012 – 2015 European Commission; FP7 Marie Curie Initial Training Network (ITN) (16 groups)

2011 – 2013 Swiss National Foundation; Synergia grant supporting collaboration between 3 groups

2010 – 2013 Wellcome Trust/MRC; Strategic Award supporting collaboration between 16 groups

2008 – 2011 Human Frontiers Science Program, HFSP Program Grant supporting collaboration between 4 groups

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