Dmitrii Afonin
Research Fellow, Aphasizhev Lab
Structural mechanisms of kinetoplastid RNA editing and the diversity of its pathways
I am a Research Fellow in the Aphasizhev lab at Boston University, where I investigate how kinetoplastids edit and regulate their RNA at the molecular and structural levels. My work integrates molecular biology, genome bioinformatics, biochemistry, and emerging cryo-EM approaches to define the architecture of mitochondrial RNA editing complexes and to probe the mechanistic diversity of editing pathways operating in kinetoplastids.
I am broadly interested in how multi-protein assemblies coordinate RNA processing and transcriptional regulation, and how these processes interface with parasite adaptation. Ultimately, I aim to translate these mechanistic insights into structure-guided strategies for targeting kinetoplastid parasites and related neglected tropical diseases.
Before joining BU, I trained as a molecular biologist at Lomonosov Moscow State University, first working with Alexander Kolesnikov and Evgeny Gerasimov lab, and later focusing on chromatin and epigenetics. I have since co-authored publications on RNA editing and kinetoplastid biology. In the lab, I enjoy building clear conceptual models, uncovering new aspects of long-known phenomena, and fostering an open and collaborative research culture.
