MOLECULAR RECOGNITION
Condensates & RNA function
How do condensate environments shape RNA structure, dynamics, and interactions?
Washington University in St. Louis · School of Medicine · Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics
Decoding cellular biochemistry from condensate microscopy.
The Ðonlić Lab integrates chemical biology, RNA biochemistry, and AI-powered imaging to reveal how cellular organization shapes biological function and how these principles can be harnessed to treat disease.
01 — Research
Four threads, one question: how do biomolecular condensates give rise to function?
From molecular interactions to disease progression, we investigate how membraneless structures organize cellular functions and how these processes can be measured, predicted, and controlled.
CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
Small-molecule modulators
How do condensates influence where small molecules act and what they do?
TECHNOLOGY
Quantitative phenotyping
Can condensate organization reveal and control what is happening biochemically inside a cell?
Translation
Disease biology
How does altered condensate organization contribute to cancer progression and therapeutic response?
02 — Publications
Selected recent work.
- 2026CellDonlic, A., Comi, T., Quinodoz, S.A., Jaberi-Lashkari, N., Antunes-Fernandes, K., Jiang, L., Wiesner, L.W., Lim, A.I., and Brangwynne, C.P.Deep learning of functional perturbations from condensate morphology
- 2026ACS Chemical BiologySun, X., Donlic, A., Boyer, J.A., Reddy, N., Brangwynne, C.P., Rabinowitz, J.D., and Kleiner, R.E.Metabolism of epigenetic ribonucleosides leads to nucleolar stress and cytotoxicity
- 2025NatureQuinodoz, S.A., Jiang, L., Abu-Alfa, A., Comi, T., Zhao, H., Yu, Q., Wiesner, L., Botello, J.F., Donlic, A., Soehalim, E., Bhat, P., Zorbas, C., Wacheul, L., Kosmrlj, A., Lafontaine, D.L.J., Klinge, S., and Brangwynne, C.P.Mapping and engineering RNA-driven architecture of the multiphase nucleolus
03 — People
Led by Anita Đonlić, Ph.D.
Anita is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry at Duke University in the laboratory of Prof. Amanda Hargrove, where she studied the recognition and regulation of structured RNAs by small molecules. She then completed her postdoctoral training with Prof. Cliff Brangwynne at Princeton University, where she investigated biomolecular condensates and developed quantitative imaging and machine-learning approaches to connect condensate morphology with underlying cellular function.
Her lab now brings together chemical biology, RNA biochemistry, and ML-powered quantitative imaging to understand how subcellular organization shapes cellular function, cancer progression, and therapeutic activity.
05 — Join us
Excited about RNA biochemistry, quantitative condensate imaging, chemical biology, or disease phenotyping?
Get in touch!
Prospective graduate students: Apply through the Roy and Diana Vagelos Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences (DBBS) at WashU Medicine.
Current WashU graduate and undergraduate students: Email Anita with your CV or résumé and a short description of your research interests.
Undergraduate students outside WashU: Apply through the Summer Undergraduate Research Group Experience (SURGE) Program.
Prospective postdoctoral fellows and staff scientists: Email Anita with your CV and a cover letter describing your research interests and how they connect with the lab’s research.
donlic@wustl.edu
Ðonlić Lab · 253 McDonnell Medical Sciences Building
Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics ·
WashU Medicine
4523 Clayton Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63110