Melissa Birol

Dr. Melissa Birol is a biophysicist and has led the “Single Molecule Biophysics probing Quantitative Neuroscience” group at the Max Delbrück Center (MDC) since December 2020. Her research combines single-molecule imaging, computational approaches, and human brain organoid models to investigate intrinsically disordered proteins, a class of highly dynamic proteins that includes major disease-associated proteins such as tau and alpha-synuclein in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Unlike conventionally folded proteins, their lack of a stable three-dimensional structure makes their behavior, interactions, and disease-associated changes particularly complex and difficult to target using traditional drug-development strategies. Her work therefore seeks to understand how these proteins function, spread between cells, and become dysregulated in disease, while developing innovative approaches to study and ultimately target their complex biology. Before joining the MDC, she trained in theoretical biophysics during her Master’s and PhD studies in London, and Montpellier, before transitioning to experimental and single-molecule biophysics. She subsequently pursued a postdoctoral fellowship spanning Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania, focusing on the biophysical behavior of intrinsically disordered proteins and their roles in health and disease.