Roshanak Irannejad, PhD

To function properly, cells and tissue must receive and interpret a large variety of signals through signaling receptors, some of which reside on cell surface. By developing a new class of biosensors, we made the unexpected finding that signaling cues to cells not only act on cell surface receptors but also on internal membrane compartments. This observation raises numerous questions pertaining to fundamental aspects of cell signaling but also provide insights into mechanisms of actions of some clinically-used drugs. The research in our lab is focused on organelle-based signaling and combines use of novel biosensors, sophisticated live cell imaging, biochemistry, pharmacology and physiology in cell lines and whole animals.