DNA-based tools for the study and treatment of Parkinson’s Disease

Dr. Maria DeRosa is Dean of Science and Professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Institute of Biochemistry at Carleton University. She is the principal investigator of the Laboratory for Aptamer Discovery and Development of Emerging Research (LADDER), a research facility funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation Leaders Opportunity Fund and the Ontario Research Fund. Her research examines a family of synthetic nucleic acids known as aptamers that can fold into 3D nanoscale structures capable of binding tightly to a specific molecular target. Her group is focused on developing a better understanding of how these systems work and using this information to design useful nanotechnology, such as biosensors, components for nanomedicine, or smart delivery devices. After completing BSc and PhD degrees in chemistry at Carleton in 1999 and 2003, she held an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship at the California Institute of Technology before returning to Carleton in 2005 as a faculty member. She has previously served as Associate Dean (Recruitment and Retention) in the Faculty of Science from 2018 to 2020 and Chair of the Department of Chemistry from 2020-2021. DeRosa has published over 160 peer-reviewed journal articles and has received several recognitions for her outstanding teaching and research contributions, including the John Charles Polanyi Research Award, an Ontario Early Researcher Award, a Capital Educators’ Award, and recognition on the Stanford-Elsevier’s list of the world’s top 2% most-cited scholars.