The Fitzpatrick lab leverages the latest developments in cryo-electron microscopy with complementary biophysical techniques (proteomics, light-microscopy, microfluidics) to explore the molecular and structural basis of neurodegeneration. To this end, the lab determines the structure and behavior of amyloid fibrils, purified directly from postmortem brain tissue, that are implicated in a range of neurodegenerative diseases. Additionally, the lab aims to understand the role of protein aggregation in vivo by visualizing the cellular changes that occur in response to the formation, clearance and spread of fibrillar inclusions using light-microscopy and cryo-electron tomography. The Fitzpatrick lab is in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and is currently located on Columbia’s Manhattanville Campus, in the Jerome L. Greene Science Center.

Source:  https://fitzpatricklab.zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/