Jessica Karaguesian

Interactions between proteins orchestrate all cellular processes, from metabolic reactions that convert nutrients into energy to signalling pathways that respond to environmental conditions. Characterizing these protein-protein interactions is essential for engineering novel proteins, designing cellular circuits, and developing targeted therapeutics. However, measuring and predicting protein interactions at scale remains a major challenge. Existing experimental approaches face tradeoffs between throughput and precision, preventing the generation of large-scale, quantitative binding datasets essential for machine learning model development. To address this, I am developing a high-throughput microfluidic platform to quantify millions of protein-protein interactions and generate training data for predictive algorithms. My research will integrate measurement and model development to map the strength and specificity of protein binding. These tools will contribute to the goal of deciphering how protein sequence encodes function, which is fundamental to understanding and engineering biological systems.