Andrei Albulescu is in the second year of his PhD at Liverpool John Moores University.
Broccoli has long been touted as one of the healthiest vegetables on our plates. But Andrei Albulescu, a PhD student from Romania at Liverpool John Moores University, hopes his research will help us unearth additional benefits as a nutraceutical – a medicinally valuable nutrient. Andrei is designing and testing chemical probes to investigate sulforaphane, the main cancer-preventative compound found in broccoli. These probes mimic the activity of sulforaphane and via the use of techniques emit signals that will enable researchers to identify important interactions with proteins relevant to cancer and inflammatory diseases.
Currently in the second year of his PhD project, Andrei’s research aims to promote a better understanding of the pathways, mechanisms and biomolecules involved in these processes, and help develop improved therapies for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.