Dr Rai was awarded his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University in 2016. During his PhD, Dr Rai was awarded the Nancy Millis Award for thesis of exceptional merit. Alin focused on dissecting the functional role of extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes, and soluble factors in cancer progression and signaling biology using molecular biology, high-resolution imaging, quantitative proteomics, transcriptomics, bioinformatics and systems biology. Dr Rai continued his research into the molecular mechanisms underlying EV biology and reprogramming target cells in cancer, cell physiology, and embryo-mternal crosstalk during implantation.

Dr Rai’s current research focuses on developing and applying quantitative proteomic techniques to study the molecular function of secreted factors and EVs, and quantitative analysis of dynamic protein abundance of normal physiology and disease-perturbed signalling networks associated with cancer, reproductive biology and cardiometabolic disease. Dr Rai further develops novel approaches to understand EVs with the aim of identifying new therapeutic targets for clinical intervention and establishing commercial partnerships.