Saric Group
Computational Soft and Living Matter
How do lifeless molecules create living organisms? How can such processes fail, resulting in diseases? At the intersection of soft matter physics, molecular cell biology, and physical chemistry, the Saric group studies physical mechanisms behind non-equilibrium self-organization of biomolecules in healthy and diseased states.
Currently, the group is focused on investigating the physical principles of cellular reshaping and cell division across evolution, and on the formation of pathological protein aggregates in the context of neurodegenerative diseases. Saric group develops computational models rooted in soft matter and statistical physics, which are powerful in traversing scales and investigating collective phenomena. The group closely collaborates with experimental colleagues on a range of systems, from synthetic set-ups to living cells.
Group Leader
Administrative Support
On this site:
Team
Current Projects
Non-equilibrium protein assembly: from building blocks to biological machines | The evolution of trafficking: from archaea to eukaryotes | Rational design of cell-reshaping elements | Collagen assembly: from molecules to fibrils | Amyloid aggregation: Inhibition of self-replication and membrane-mediated control
Publications
Azadbakht A, Meadowcroft B, Varkevisser T, Šarić A, Kraft DJ. 2023. Wrapping pathways of anisotropic dumbbell particles by Giant Unilamellar Vesicles. Nano Letters. 23(10), 4267–4273. View
Hurtig F, Burgers TCQ, Cezanne A, Jiang X, Mol FN, Traparić J, Pulschen AA, Nierhaus T, Tarrason-Risa G, Harker-Kirschneck L, Löwe J, Šarić A, Vlijm R, Baum B. 2023. The patterned assembly and stepwise Vps4-mediated disassembly of composite ESCRT-III polymers drives archaeal cell division. Science Advances. 9(11), eade5224. View
Sorichetti V, Ninarello A, Ruiz-Franco J, Hugouvieux V, Zaccarelli E, Micheletti C, Kob W, Rovigatti L. 2023. Structure and elasticity of model disordered, polydisperse, and defect-free polymer networks. Journal of Chemical Physics. 158(7), 074905. View
Araújo NAM, Janssen LMC, Barois T, Boffetta G, Cohen I, Corbetta A, Dauchot O, Dijkstra M, Durham WM, Dussutour A, Garnier S, Gelderblom H, Golestanian R, Isa L, Koenderink GH, Löwen H, Metzler R, Polin M, Royall CP, Šarić A, Sengupta A, Sykes C, Trianni V, Tuval I, Vogel N, Yeomans JM, Zuriguel I, Marin A, Volpe G. 2023. Steering self-organisation through confinement. Soft Matter. 19, 1695–1704. View
Meadowcroft B, Palaia I, Pfitzner AK, Roux A, Baum B, Šarić A. 2022. Mechanochemical rules for shape-shifting filaments that remodel membranes. Physical Review Letters. 129(26), 268101. View
ReX-Link: Anđela Šarić
Career
since 2022 Assistant Professor, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
2016 – Present Associate Professor of Physics, University College London, UK
2013 – 2016 HFSP Postdoctoral Fellow and Emmanuel College Junior Research Fellow, University of Cambridge, UK
2013 PhD, Columbia University in New York, USA
Selected Distinctions
2022 Biophysical Society Paper of the Year Award
2021 EMBO Young Investigator Award
2018 ERC Starting Grant
2017 Royal Society University Research Fellowship
2013 HFSP Postdoctoral Fellowship
2013 The Hammet outstanding PhD Thesis Award, Columbia University
