Many organisms rhythmically coordinate biological processes with the solar day, optimizing their evolutionary fitness. Referred to as circadian rhythms, disruption of these ~24-hour rhythms results in numerous pathological associations, including increased risk of cancer, psychiatric disorders, metabolic dysfunction, and cardiovascular disease.

The Pelham Lab is focused on understanding how proteins organize cellular physiology in space and time, particularly investigating how the molecular circadian clock regulates biological processes. We are interested in understanding how the intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) of clock proteins help keep time while contributing plasticity and robustness to circadian timekeeping. Our research combines cell biology, biochemistry, biophysics, and proteomic approaches to uncover the mechanistic underpinnings of the circadian clock in eukaryotes.

The Pelham Lab is hosted by Dr. Alex Holehouse within the Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics department at Washington University Medical School in St. Louis.