Blerida Banushi

I did my Master Studies in Applied Molecular Biology at the University of Pavia (Italy). During the two years internship for M.S. thesis I was involved in the Laboratory directed by Prof. Andrea Mattevi on the topic: "Biochemistry and Structural Biology of human protein complexes involved in epigenetic regulation". The project aimed to unravel the structural and biochemical properties of human Lysine Specific histone Demethylase LSD1 in complex with other proteins involved in chromatin remodelling processes.

In November 2009 I started my PhD as part of Marie Curie training network at the University of Birmingham with Dr. Paul Gissen. The aim of the project is to investigate the relationship between two proteins, VPS33B and VIPAR in function and regulation of apical-basolateral polarity. In humans deficiency of VPS33B and VIPAR proteins cause apical-basolateral polarity defects and abnormal formation of the terminal biliary ductules. A detailed understanding of VPS33B/VIPAR pathway, using a molecular, genetic and proteomic approaches, is required to give a better insight into the mechanisms that determine apical-basolateral polarity.