Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
Availability:
Available for supervision
Dr Aleksandr Kakinen is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow (EL1) at AIBN, UQ. His research investigates how protein aggregation, inflammation, and infection contribute to neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
His work focuses on amyloid proteins — misfolded proteins that assemble into toxic aggregates in the brain — and how these assemblies interact with inflammatory and microbial factors to influence disease progression. He combines approaches from biophysics, structural biology, molecular neuroscience, neuroinflammation, and nanomedicine to understand disease mechanisms and identify new therapeutic opportunities.
Dr Kakinen’s research program includes:
amyloid aggregation and cross-seeding mechanisms
infection- and inflammation-driven neurodegeneration
structural and biological diversity of amyloid assemblies
neuroinflammatory responses in neuronal and microglial models
brain-targeted delivery of neuroprotective molecules and peptides
He has authored over 65 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals, including Nature Communications, Advanced Science, ACS Nano, and Chemical Reviews. His current work aims to link fundamental mechanisms of protein aggregation with translational strategies for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
