Cells and tissues harbor exquisite molecular machinery built of thousands of evolved proteins and other biomolecules working intimately and fluidly together. These machines are regulated to drive functional outcomes such as growth and differentiation during development, to the daily processing of food energy, to the regeneration of tissue during healing, to the devastating effects that are manifest in disease. The research of Dr. Ballif and his students teases apart and decodes the inner workings of these protein machines toward an understanding of how they function to orchestrate developmental, homeostatic and aberrant biology.

Ballif shares his work at the final College of Arts & Sciences Full Professor Lecture, April 17 at 4:30 p.m. in Waterman's Memorial Lounge. The title of his talk is "Decoding the Secret Lives of Proteins."

Ballif is a cellular biochemist, protein mass spectrometrist, and developmental biologist. After earning degrees in microbiology and biochemistry, he received a Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology from Harvard. Following postdoctoral research in brain development at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and in proteomics at Harvard, he joined UVM’s Department of Biology in 2006, where he teaches and continues his studies of cellular signaling in neurodevelopment. Professor Ballif’s research also spans multiple biological disciplines as he collaborates with many researchers, local to international. His research is featured in 90 journal articles.