Marina Ramirez-Alvarado, PhD

Marina Ramirez-Alvarado is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Mayo Clinicexternal link, opens in a new tab, Rochester, Minnesota. She studies misfolding and amyloid formation in light chain amyloidosis. The overall goal of her research laboratory is to understand the molecular basis of this disease to ultimately find ways to ameliorate the organ damage it causes and eventually find new therapeutic strategies to improve organ function and quality of life for patients and increase overall survival.

Dr. Ramirez-Alvarado's current projects aim at understanding the structural basis for toxicity in light chain amyloidosis. It is now accepted that soluble species populated in the initial steps of amyloid formation are quite toxic and can cause severe organ damage. Dr. Ramirez-Alvarado is utilizing her well-characterized protein systems with incredible biophysical knowledge to determine which species are causing the devastating damage observed in AL amyloidosis.

Dr. Ramirez-Alvarado works very closely with clinical investigators in the Division of Hematology, the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, and the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases.