AZNAURYAN Mikayel

We use a large variety of biochemical and biophysical tools, among which particularly single-molecule FRET spectroscopy, in order to understand the mechanisms of disordered protein interactions and the basis of their specific function, as well as to uncover how certain disordered protein interactions define and modulate phase separation and formation of cellular condensates.

Mikayel Aznauryan earned his PhD from Yerevan State University in Armenia (2008-2011). He then moved to Switzerland (2012-2014) as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Zurich (under Prof. B. Schuler), where he focused on protein folding and dynamics using single-molecule FRET spectroscopy. Following this, he continued his postdoctoral research (2014-2018) at the Department of Chemistry and the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center at Aarhus University in Denmark (under Prof. V. Birkedal), where he employed single-molecule fluorescence microscopy to study the dynamics of nucleic acid structures.

In late 2018, Mikayel Aznauryan joined IECB and the ARNA Laboratory as a new group leader. Since 2019, he has been an INSERM senior researcher (CRCN). He has been awarded FRM start-up, IdEx Chair of Excellence, and ANR Young Investigator grants to establish his group.