Welcoming Dr. Priyanka Joshi to the Institute for Soft Matter Synthesis and Metrology

Posted in ISM Stories News Story

The Institute for Soft Matter Synthesis and Metrology (ISM) is pleased to welcome Dr. Priyanka Joshi as a new Institute member. Dr. Joshi is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology at Georgetown University Medical Center, where she directs the Laboratory of Biomolecular Homeostasis and Resilience.

Dr. Joshi’s research explores how cellular metabolites influence protein structure, stability, and misfolding, with a particular focus on aging and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Her work sits at the intersection of biophysics, structural biology, and soft matter, investigating how changes in the cellular environment shape protein behavior at the molecular level.

Her laboratory addresses three core questions: how metabolites determine protein structure and quality control, how aging alters the cellular environment to promote misfolding, and how protein aggregation varies across different disease states. By combining structural proteomics, metabolomics, and biophysical experiments with computational and machine learning approaches, the Joshi Lab seeks to uncover fundamental principles of metabolite–protein interactions and cellular resilience.

Dr. Joshi completed her Ph.D. in Biophysics and Chemical Biology at the University of Cambridge and has held prestigious research fellowships at Cambridge, ETH Zurich, and UC Berkeley. Her work has been widely recognized through awards including the Salje Medal, Marie Curie Fellowship, and NIH’s Experimental Program in Aging Research, as well as honors such as Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science and Healthcare.

At ISM, Dr. Joshi’s research brings valuable insight into how soft, complex biological environments regulate molecular structure and function. Her work strengthens the Institute’s mission to understand dynamic, disordered systems and advances opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration across biophysics, materials science, and computational modeling.

We are excited to welcome Dr. Joshi to ISM and look forward to the innovative research and collaborations her lab will bring to the Institute community. You can read more about Dr. Joshi and her lab here.