Marlene Oeffinger, PhD

• Director, Ribonucleoprotein Biochemistry research unit
• Assistant IRCM Research Professor
• Assistant research professor, Department of Biochemistry, Université de Montréal
• Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine (Division of Experimental Medicine), McGill University
• Research Scholar, Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé
• New Investigator Award, Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Dr. Oeffinger’s primary research focus is studying the maturation of ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNPs). She has developed a set of new proteomic tools for investigating the rapid and dynamic changes involved in RNP assembly.

She intends to further develop these techniques and use them in combination with established methods to study the dynamic spatial and temporal order of RNP assembly in eukaryotes. Her objective is to create a model that explains how the assembly of RNPs is integrated into other cellular networks and signal transduction pathways. In particular, she is interested in studying the link between ribosome biogenesis and tumorigenesis.

Dr. Oeffinger holds a junior 1 research scholarship from the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé, and a New Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Degrees and relevant experience

• Master’s in cell biology, University of Vienna, Austria
• PhD in molecular biology, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
• Postdoctoral fellowship in Dr. David Tollervey’s laboratory, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (2002-2003)
• Postdoctoral fellowship and research associate in Dr. Mike Rout’s laboratory, Rockefeller University, New York, USA (2003-2008 / 2008-2009)