Associate Professor and Assistant Head
Department of Biological Sciences
Purdue University

Professor Aguilar's research is focused on the study of protein trafficking and membrane transport in relation to the processes of cell polarity establishment (a feature that is key for animal development and crucial physiological functions such as synaptic transmission and immune response) and carcinogenic transformation.

"In order to pursue my research goals, I routinely use genetic, biochemistry and cell biology techniques with yeast and mammalian cells. I study protein-protein interactions at molecular level by using bioinformatics, biochemical and genetic tools (like the tow-hybrid system) and we investigate the physiological relevance of these interactions by using functional assays, microscopy (of live and fixed cells) and genetic approaches."