LIPID REGULATION AND CELL STRESS

We study how cells respond to stress and how these responses shape health, aging, and disease.

At the Thibault Lab, based at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and affiliated with the Mechanobiology Institute (MBI), we focus on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a central organelle in protein folding and lipid regulation. When disrupted, ER stress contributes to numerous conditions, from metabolic disorders and neurodegeneration to infection and tissue damage.

We explore how the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) senses different forms of stress, especially lipid bilayer stress, and how the unfolded protein response (UPR) determines whether cells adapt or undergo programmed death. Our work spans biological systems, revealing how these pathways shift in aging, chronic wounds, and retinal disease. We also develop bioinformatics and AI tools to decode gene networks from complex, multi-species datasets.

We use a multi-model approach—yeast, C. elegans, mammalian cells, and mouse models—combined with cutting-edge tools in genomics, imaging, and computational biology.

Learn more about our ongoing work on the Research page.