Research projects and Student research
Meet the team
About us
The Molecular Proteomics laboratory integrates advanced proteomics, multi-omics, extracellular vesicle (EV) biology, spatial cell biology and nanomedicine to understand how the heart is molecularly organised, how it remodels during disease, and how these insights can be translated into new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
Heart disease causes complex changes across cells, organelles, tissue regions and circulating signals. Our research addresses this challenge through an end-to-end discovery and engineering program: defining molecular heterogeneity, resolving mechanism and spatial organisation, identifying accessible therapeutic targets, and developing precision delivery systems for cardiac repair.
Defining extracellular vesicle biology
Extracellular vesicles are nano-sized, cell-derived signalling structures that transfer proteins, lipids and nucleic acids between cells. Rather than treating EVs as a single uniform population, our research defines their distinct molecular identities, biogenesis pathways and biological functions. We develop high-throughput proteomic and multi-omic approaches to characterise EV subpopulations in cells, tissues and blood, identify robust molecular hallmarks, and determine how EV-mediated communication contributes to cardiovascular health and disease.
Mapping the molecular organisation of the heart
The heart is a spatially organised signalling organ in which proteins, lipids and regulatory networks are distributed across cells, organelles and anatomical regions. We develop subcellular fractionation, organelle-enrichment and spatial proteomic technologies to map this organisation at high molecular depth. By integrating mass spectrometry, lipidomics, phosphoproteomics, imaging, machine learning and systems biology, we reveal how cardiac compartments and signalling networks are remodelled in myocardial injury, heart failure and cardiometabolic disease.
Engineering next-generation cardiac therapies
We translate molecular discovery into therapeutic design by developing biologically inspired nanoparticles, lipid nanoparticles, engineered EVs and cell-derived nanovesicles. Our research combines scalable production, molecular characterisation, quantitative biodistribution, functional assays and preclinical models to determine how therapeutic cargo can be delivered to injured cardiac tissue. This includes approaches to improve tissue retention, reduce fibrosis, promote vascular and myocardial repair, and overcome the major translational barriers limiting cell-free regenerative therapies.
Precision targeting and accessible cardiac networks
A major focus is identifying molecular targets that can be reached from the circulation. Using surfaceome proteomics and in vivo labelling strategies, we map proteins exposed on coronary and vascular surfaces and define how these accessible networks change after injury. These datasets provide candidate targets for precision delivery, diagnostic imaging and therapeutic intervention, linking molecular organisation directly to translational opportunity.
Integrated proteomics and multi-omics capability
Our laboratory works closely with the Baker Institute's Proteomics Research Platform to provide expertise in experimental design, tissue and biofluid preparation, peptide fractionation, affinity and post-translational modification enrichment, quantitative labelling, high-resolution mass spectrometry, bioinformatics and biological interpretation. Applications span whole-cell and tissue proteomes, low-input and clinical samples, plasma profiling, secretomes, extracellular vesicles, subcellular organelles and protein-interaction networks.
From discovery to impact
Our multidisciplinary team brings together proteomics, molecular and cell biology, cardiovascular disease models, nanobiotechnology, biomaterials, advanced imaging, functional biology and computational analysis. Through national and international collaborations, industry partnerships, open molecular resources and field-enabling methodological frameworks, we aim to convert complex biological discovery into reproducible technologies, actionable targets and next-generation diagnostics and therapeutics for cardiovascular disease and regenerative medicine.
