I am a molecular cell biologist with extensive training in evolutionary bioinformatics and a keen interest in multi-disciplinary team-driven science. My main research interests are the mechanisms and evolutionary origins of chromosome recombination and segregation during mitosis and meiosis in (microbial) eukaryotes. 

My research is particularly focused on two rapidly evolving structures: kinetochores and synaptonemal complexes. Kinetochores are small cellular structures that connect the chromosomal DNA to thread-like microtubules emanating from the spindle apparatus during cell division. Synaptonemal complexes resemble a large zipper-like structure that forms between homologous chromosomes during meiosis to mediate synapsis, recombination, crossover and finally promotes accurate segregation.
Using a combination of comparative genomics, high-resolution imaging and proteomics, I aim to elucidate the inner workings and evolutionary history of these crucial parts of the (a)sexual cell division machinery in a wide variety of eukaryotic creatures. With the tools and models that I will develop I hope to contribute towards the establishment of cell biology as a comparative and evolutionary discipline, driving not only the functional understanding of eukaryotes in a broader phylogenetic context, but also to uncover the principles of cellular evolution itself.