Dr. Alexey Mazur is a theoretical biophysicist interested in understanding the fundamental properties of DNA. Previously, Dr. Mazur proposed a model of direct pairing of intact homologous DNA molecules that is consistent with the results of our genetic experiments concerning the mechanism of repeat recognition for RIP. While the primary affiliation of Dr. Mazur is with the Laboratory of Theoretical Biochemistry (Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique), he currently guides our efforts in the Fungal Epigenomics Group to develop an experimental system for studying interactions between homologous double-stranded DNA molecules in vitro.