Multi-scale mechanisms of microtubule-based transport within cilia and flagella    

Eukaryotic cells construct long, slender organelles on their surface known as cilia that enable them to swim, move fluids and sense their environment. Defects in cilia are associated with a wide range of severe human developmental disorders. Many of these conditions can be traced to failures in a transportation system that moves building blocks and signalling molecules to and from the site of assembly at the ciliary tip. 

I will use a multidisciplinary approach to understand the structural mechanisms of the molecular motors powering this system, how they assemble into multi-motor trains and how these trains are regulated within cilia to switch direction specifically at the tip. 

This research will generate new reagents, assays and discoveries that will help us to understand cilia as self-organising organelles and give insight into the molecular basis of ciliopathies. I will communicate the results via a molecular movie.