Esteban Orellana Vinueza, Ph.D.

Research

The Orellana Lab studies the causes and effects of transfer RNA (tRNA) dysregulation in human disease and uses this knowledge to develop diagnostics and tRNA-based therapeutics. For many years, the contribution of tRNAs to human disease has been overlooked. Accumulating evidence indicates that the dynamic nature of tRNA modifications and the composition of the tRNA pool can contribute to human diseases, including cancer. The primary focus is to understand tRNA biology using cell culture and mouse models. The Orellana Lab employs bioinformatic, genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cell biological approaches to probe how perturbation of tRNAs results in disease.