Sara M. Vaiana has a research background in soft condensed matter physics applied to biological systems. Her research is driven by an interest in fundamental theoretical aspects of proteins as biological systems. She uses a number of experimental techniques, ranging from light scattering to fast pulse-probe laser spectroscopy to study intra- and inter-molecular interactions in biologically relevant proteins in solution, working in close conjunction with biochemists, physical chemists and molecular biologists. She applies concepts from phase transitions and polymer physics to understand pathological protein aggregation. Her current research is focused on two main areas of interest: i) investigating the conformational states and the dynamics of natively disordered proteins, in relation to their biological function ii) understanding the mechanism and quantifying the driving forces which lead to amyloid protein aggregation and disease.