Research

  How do cells feel the world? We study how receptors and ion channels on the cell membrane convert physical and chemical cues—force, temperature, ligands, and lipids—into electrical signals. This conversion underlies touch, proprioception, pain, blood-pressure control, hearing, and growth. When these pathways go wrong, the results include chronic pain, hearing loss, fibrosis, and cancer.

  Our work focuses on membrane proteins that govern these processes, including TRP channels, Piezo channels, and selected K2P and ligand-gated channels, together with their protein partners and lipid environments. We ask how membrane tension, curvature, and composition reshape gating; how small molecules and peptides modulate activity; and how these mechanisms intersect with disease.

What we study

• Gating logic of ion channels under chemical (ligands, temperature) and mechanical (tension, curvature) inputs

• Regulation by interacting proteins and lipids, and how these interactions tune sensitivity and adaptation

• Host–pathogen interfaces where bacterial/viral effectors hijack membrane-protein signaling

• Membrane-protein circuits engineered for diagnostic and therapeutic functions

How we study it

• Structures across states: Single-particle cryo-EM and cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) to capture conformational landscapes from molecules to cells 

• Function: Electrophysiology and quantitative biochemistry in native cells and reconstituted systems (nanodiscs, proteoliposomes) under defined mechanical and chemical stimuli 

• Computation: AI-guided modeling, integrative fitting, and simulations to connect structure, dynamics, and function 

• Tool-building: Standardized pipelines for native-source purification, lipid remodeling, high-sensitivity assays, and genetic or pharmacological perturbations

Why it matters

By unifying chemical and mechanical signaling, we reveal general rules of membrane-protein communication, pinpoint disease-relevant structural features, and create starting points for analgesics, anti-infectives, and precision bio-devices.

1. Determine high-resolution structures of membrane receptors and ion channels across resting, intermediate, and active states using cryo-EM and cryo-ET. 

2. Integrate structural, biochemical, biophysical, and computational methods to correlate conformational change with function in native and reconstituted membranes under controlled force and lipid composition. 

3. Map how protein partners, small molecules, peptides, and lipids remodel gating; define allosteric networks and coupling to the membrane. 

4. Elucidate host–pathogen mechanisms at membrane-protein interfaces and nominate actionable targets for anti-infective strategies. 

5. Build and share biochemical toolkits—native-source purifications, nanodisc/proteoliposome platforms, lipid-editing protocols, and high-throughput functional readouts. 

6. Pursue structure-based discovery and optimization of small-molecule and peptide modulators for prioritized membrane-protein targets. 

7. Engineer membrane-protein-based synthetic circuits to rewire cellular responses for diagnostics and therapeutics.