Our goal is to offer a comprehensive characterization of caspase activity and define the molecular mechanisms of its regulation, in normal and tumour cells without apparent signs of cell death. To answer this fundamental biological question, we combine a wide variety of experimental approaches such as modern genetic engineering technologies, high-resolution imaging, biochemistry and proteomics with the powerful repertoire of genetic tools developed in Drosophila.

The laboratory also aims to generate suitable platforms for identifying novel small molecules with caspase-regulatory activity. In the long term, further validation of these molecules in mammalian models holds the potential to improve the current spectrum of therapeutic interventions against cancer and other caspase-sustained diseases.