Marina Feric | Eberly College of Science

Dr. Marina Feric is a Robert and Peggy Schlegel Early Career Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at Penn State University, with a courtesy appoint in the Department of Chemistry. As a member of the Center for Eukaryotic Gene Regulation, she leads a research group investigating the principles of cellular organization and how their disruption contributes to aging and age-related diseases. She received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering magna cum laude at the University of Maryland in College Park and earned her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Princeton University, where she uncovered the biophysics governing the organization of membraneless organelles called biomolecular condensates. She then performed her postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute supported by a NIGMS PRAT postdoctoral fellowship, where she extended her work to human aging.

Honors and Awards

Robert and Peggy Schlegel Early Career Professorship, 2023 - 2025

NIGMS Postdoctoral Research Associate Training (PRAT) Fellowship, 2018 - 2021

Education

Ph.D. Chemical Engineering - Princeton University 2016

M.A. Chemical Engineering - Princeton University 2012

B.S. Chemical Engineering - University of Maryland - College Park (UMCP) - magna cum laude and with University Honors 2010

Research Interests

The Feric lab studies how biophysical interactions across multiple scales – molecular, organellar and cellular – contribute to proper cellular organization and how anomalies give rise to age-related diseases. To do so, we take an interdisciplinary approach within the framework of biomolecular phase transitions. With advanced, super-resolution light microscopy techniques and quantitative analysis, we probe the organization and function of biomolecules in droplet-like structures called biomolecular condensates. By identifying the mechanisms by which the cell maintains the organization and activity of its condensates over time, our work will shed light on new approaches to improve human health span and treat age-related diseases.

Selected Publications

Aththawala Gemara, S.V.B.D., S.T. Penna and M. Feric*. “Membranes arrest the coarsening of mitochondrial condensates.” bioRxiv. (2025). *corresponding author

Feric, M.*and T. Misteli*. "Function moves biomolecular condensates in phase space." BioEssays. (2022). *co-corresponding authors

Feric, M.*, A. Sarfallah, F. Dar, D. Temiakov, R. Pappu, and T. Misteli*. "Mesoscale structure-function relationships in mitochondrial transcriptional condensates." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119.41 e2207303119 (2022). *co-corresponding authors [formerly: bioRxiv 2021.12.30.474545; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.30.474545]

Feric, M. "Droplets take DNA by force." Nature Physics 17.9 (2021): 981-982.

Feric, M.*, and T. Misteli*. Phase separation in genome organization across evolution. Trends in Cell Biology (2021). *co-corresponding authors

Feric, M., Demarest, T.G., Tian, J., Croteau, D.L., Bohr, V.A., Misteli, T. Self-assembly of multi-component mitochondrial nucleoids via phase separation. The EMBO Journal e107165 (2021). [formerly: bioRxiv 822858; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/822858 (2019).]

Feric M.*, Vaidya N.*, Harmon T. S., Mitrea D. M., Zhu L., Richardson T. M., Kriwacki R. W., Pappu R. V., & Brangwynne C.P. Coexisting liquid phases underlie nucleolar sub-compartments. Cell 165(7), 1686-1697 (2016).
*Authors contributed equally

Feric M., Broedersz C. P., & Brangwynne C. P. Soft viscoelastic properties of nuclear actin age oocytes due to gravitational creep. Scientific Reports 5, (2015)

Feric M. & Brangwynne C. P. A nuclear F-actin scaffold stabilizes RNP droplets against gravity in large cells. Nature Cell Biology 15, 1253-1259 (2013).

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