Alireza Ghanbarpour (Principal Investigator)
Education and research experience
Postdoc, MIT
NRSA F32 Postdoc Fellow, Yale School of Medicine
Ph.D., Michigan State University
Memberships
Editorial Advisory Board, Protein Science
Associate Member, Siteman Cancer Center
Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Member, Biophysical Society
Email: alirezag@wustl.edu
Phone: 314-362-4117
Office: 254 McDonnell Medical Sciences Building
About the PI: I’ve always been captivated by molecular structures and their ability to reveal underlying functions. As an undergraduate, I studied the crystal engineering of small molecules, identifying how weak intermolecular interactions drive crystal packing.
During my master’s, I studied inorganic catalysis, investigating structure-function relationships of small molecules and their catalytic properties. My PhD research in Jim Geiger’s lab further expanded my focus to protein chemistry, where I engineered protein model systems to demonstrate how nature can develop complex mechanisms—such as photoactivity and allosteric regulation—within a “naive” protein fold.
As an NRSA F32 postdoctoral fellow in Karin Reinisch’s lab at Yale, I studied how lipid scramblases interact with lipid transfer proteins during autophagosome formation—a process that enables cells to degrade proteins and organelles by engulfing them within a double membrane—and proposed a new model for organelle biogenesis.
Later, at MIT in the labs of Bob Sauer and Joey Davis, I used cryo-EM and biochemistry to study bacterial AAA proteases, uncovering key insights into substrate engagement, recognition, and adaptor interactions within these molecular machines. I am excited to further investigate how bacterial and mitochondrial AAA proteases recognize substrates, interact with adaptors, and enable cells to adapt to environmental stress through precise proteome remodeling mechanisms.
Naseer Iqbal (Staff Scientist)
Education and research Experience
Postdoc, Anschutz Medical campus, University of Colorado, Denver
Ph.D., All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Research Interests
Structural biology, biochemistry
Hobbies
Playing Cricket, traveling, hiking
Yifei Lyu (Research Technician)
Education and research Experience
MS, Applied Chemical Science and Technology, University of Washington.
BS, Chemistry, Genetics, and Chemistry, Emory University.
Research interests
Biochemistry, structural Biology, drug Discovery
Hobbies
Video games, traveling
Lily Felipe (Undergraduate Student)
Education and research experience
Undergraduate student, Biological Neuroscience and Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis
Research interests
Biochemistry, medication and drug discovery, molecular biology, ecology
Hobbies
cooking and baking, reading and poetry, travelling, horseback riding.
We are actively recruiting new lab members. Please check opportunities for more information.
Rotation students
Juwaan Douglas-Jenkins (Spring 2025)
Audrey Chinn (Fall 2024)
Nikita Gupta (Fall 2024)