David Rueda

Professor David Rueda holds the Chair in Molecular and Cellular Biophysics at Imperial College London’s Department of Infectious Disease (Faculty of Medicine). He leads a research group developing single-molecule imaging techniques to study structural dynamics of biomolecules involved in DNA/RNA processing, chromatin remodelling, and gene editing. His work spans CRISPR/Cas9 off-target mechanisms, SMC complex dynamics, and RNA localization via fluorogenic aptamers.

• Affiliations: CDT in Chemical Biology (supervisor), Centre for Advanced Therapeutics, Institute of Chemical Biology, and Molecular Sciences Network
• Postgraduate Training: PhD (EPF Lausanne, 2001) and Postdoc (University of Michigan, 2001–05)

Research focuses on:

• CRISPR/Cas9 off-target binding mechanisms under mechanical stress
• SWR1 complex-mediated histone variant incorporation
• Live-cell RNA imaging using Mango aptamers
• Cohesin’s role in DNA tethering and SMC complex dynamics

His lab employs advanced microscopy (optical tweezers, super-resolution imaging) and collaborates with Prof. Dale Wigley (Imperial) and Prof. Peter Unrau (Simon Fraser) on chromatin and RNA studies. Recent work addresses DNA repair pathways and synthetic lethal targets in cancer.