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Mechanisms of inter- and intracellular transport

Our lab studies how cells organize, move, and exchange material, both within a single cell and between neighboring cells. We’re especially interested in the cellular mechanisms that govern this organization: how cytoskeletal filaments, motor proteins, and associated regulators self-organize into functional transport networks. We are also interested in tunneling nanotubes, a recently discovered form of direct cell-cell connection that employs the transport machinery to allow cells to share organelles, nucleic acids, and signaling components.

We combine quantitative live-cell imaging, correlative light-electron microscopy, cryo-electron tomography, and biochemical reconstitution to resolve these transport systems at high spatial and temporal resolution, connecting molecular-scale architecture to cell-scale function. Because intercellular transport pathways are hijacked or dysregulated in diseases ranging from cancer and pathogenesis to neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders, our work aims to connect fundamental cell biology to therapeutically relevant questions.