PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

As a Ph.D. student with Ron Dror at Stanford, I used simulation-based approaches to reveal structural determinants for the selective activation of downstream proteins by GPCRs. As a postdoctoral scholar at UC-Berkeley, I worked with Profs. Susan Marqusee and Ehud Isacoff to develop frameworks for integrating experimental and computational measurements of GPCR activation. I am broadly interested in combining biophysical and computational methods to dissect mechanisms of membrane protein allosteric regulation, providing new strategies for the design of novel therapeutics to target a wide variety of diseases. In my free time, I love exploring the city, hiking, reading, and baking.

POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR

I grew up in Italy and completed my PhD at Philipps University Marburg in Germany, in the lab of Prof. Peter Kolb. During this time, I developed a strong interest in G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) and their allosteric modulation. My work combined computational methods—such as molecular modeling and docking-based virtual screening—with cell-based assays to identify new compounds targeting these receptors. Currently, I am using a variety of computational and experimental approaches to study activation and allosteric regulation of Family C GPCRs, a unique subset of GPCRs with large extracellular domains. Outside the lab, I enjoy exploring the city and local events, or searching for great coffee spots.

POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR

I’m originally from Mechanicville, Virginia and first fell in love with membrane proteins and computational structural biology during my postbac in Lucy Forrest’s lab at the NIH after getting my BS in Chemistry from the College of William. My fascination with transporter mechanisms led me to my PhD in Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco in the lab of Michael Grabe. My thesis centered around predicting conformational changes, scrambling kinetics, and ion permeation mechanisms of TMEM16 proteins using computation methods including coarse-grained and atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and the weighted ensemble enhanced sampling method. My current project aims to combine structure prediction, MD simulations, and single molecule techniques such as multicolor FRET to study GPCR activation. I am also using MD simulations to probe gating of the cell volume-regulated ion channel, LRRC8. Outside of lab I enjoy playing tennis (hit me up if you want to hit sometime!), walking my dog, Lanna, and baking.

TECHNICIAN

I grew up in northern New Jersey and recently graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. During my time at WashU, I worked in the Leung Lab, where I investigated the pathogenic pathways of non-segmented, negative-strand RNA viruses (like Ebola) and gained experience in molecular cloning. In recent summers, I interned at Pfizer and Thermo Fisher Scientific, where I worked on the formulation of mRNA-LNP vaccines and the large-scale purification of monoclonal antibodies, respectively. I’m super excited to learn more about GPCRs with the Latorraca Lab, experimentally uncovering the diverse conformational states that underlie their functions. Outside of the lab, I love to read, go to yoga, come up with new recipes, and listen to music. I just moved to New York, so I’m also planning to discover all the parks, food, and culture that the city has to offer!

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT

I am from Delaware and am going into my senior year at Barnard College majoring in biochemistry. I joined the Latorraca lab with an interest in GPCRs and their conformational changes broadly. However, throughout the course of the summer, I have specifically been intrigued by adhesion GPCRs and their self activation mechanisms. I look forward to continuing to put together the pieces of the class B GPCR puzzle through smFRET. Outside of lab, I enjoy making jewelry, (very beginner levels of) crotchet, listening to music, and reading.