The Oeffinger laboratory studies the architecture, composition and functional niches of heterogenous ribonucleoprotein complexes such as ribosomes and mRNPs. Our main focus is to determine the regulation of their assembly and function, dynamic coordination and intramolecular interaction of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), and associated species of RNAs. We combine proteomic, RNomic, biochemical and computational approaches to build a dynamic picture of RNP regulation and function in different cellular contexts and organisms (S.cerevisiae, human cells, and zebrafish) to yield important information on gene regulation and how is linked to other cellular processes including DNA damage and repair, development as well as onset of various neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease and ALS.

We are located at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) and are affiliated with the département de biochimie et médicine moléculaire at the Université de Montréal and the Department of Experimental Medicine at McGill University. Our work is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Brain Canada/ALS Canada, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). We are part of the Integrated Quantitative Bioscience Initiative (IQBI).