Meet the lab!
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Akbar Ali , PhD
Associate Professor -
Dinesh Barak , PhD
Postdoctoral AssociateResearch Theme: Drug Resistance
Diseases: HIV; Cancer; SARS-CoV-2Proteins: HIV-1 protease; HTLV-1 protease; SARC-CoV-2 Main protease
Research Technique: Synthetic Organic and Medicinal Chemistry
Research Interests: Synthesis of novel heterocycles as potential antiviral agents
Lab Location: LRB 840 E
Phone: 508-856-8873 -
Lauren Intravaia
PhD StudentResearch Theme: Drug Resistance
Disease: HIV, SARS-CoV-2
Proteins: HIV-1 protease, SARS-CoV-2 Spike and Mpro, neutralizing nanobodies
Research Techniques: Machine learning, molecular dynamics simulations, Gaussian QM calculations, protein structure prediction, cryo-EM
Research Interest: Design computational tools to counter resistance in structure-based drug design and reveal the molecular mechanisms underlying protein inhibition. -
Jagroop Kaur , PhD
Postdoctoral AssociateResearch Theme: Drug Resistance
Disease: Diabetes, Viral Infections
Proteins: Renalase, HIV-1 Protease, SARS-CoV2 MPro
Research Techniques: Organic Chemistry Methodologies; Small Molecule Synthesis, Purification and Characterization; Enzyme Inhibition Assays
Research Interest: Design and synthesis of Small Molecule Viral Protease Inhibitors. Furthermore, evaluation of Enzyme Inhibition via Both Direct and Indirect Binding Assays, Employing Varied Approaches Such as ITC, UV-Vis, Fluorescence, and NMR Spectroscopy
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Nese Kurt Yilmaz , PhD
Associate ProfessorResearch Theme: Drug Resistance
Diseases: HIV; HCV; Cancer; Influenza; Dengue
Proteins: HIV-1 protease; HCV NS3/4A protease; APOBEC3's; Influenza neuraminidase; Dengue NS2B/NS3
Research Technique: Enzyme Inhibition; Structural Analysis; Lab Managing
Office Location: LRB 919
Lab Location: LRB 907
Phone: 508-856-1867 -
Jeong Min Lee , PhD
Sr. Research ScientistResearch Theme: engineering cytosine base editor
Diseases: diverse genetic diseases
Proteins: APOBEC3's; Cas9; uracil glycosylase inhibitor; the components of CRISPR gene editing
Research Technique: protein engineering and biochemistry
Research Interests: engineering proteins, nucleic acids, or nanomaterials with novel structures, dynamics, and functions for basic biology/biomedical applications and effective therapeutic approaches.
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Arooma Maryam , PhD
Postdoctoral AssociateResearch Theme: Small molecule drug discovery against autoimmune disease
Diseases: Type 1 Diabetes, Cancer Proteins: Human Renalase, APOBEC3 isoforms
Research Techniques: Protein Expression and Purification, molecular modelling, and molecular dynamics simulation. Structural analysis, virtual small molecule drug screening.
Research Interest: Utilizing computational methodologies, including molecular modeling and conventional molecular dynamics simulations to understand the relationship between the three-dimensional structures, dynamics and the biological functions of DNA-binding enzymes and proteins central to Type I Diabetes.
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Celia Schiffer , PhD
Chair and Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biotechnology. Arthur F. and Helen P. Koskinas Professorship in Biochemistry & Molecular Biotechnology. Director of the Institute for Drug ResistanceResearch Theme: Drug Resistance
Diseases: HIV; HCV; Cancer; Influenza; Dengue
Proteins: HIV-1 protease; HCV NS3/4A protease; APOBEC3's; Influenza neuraminindase; Influenza hemagglutinin; Dengue NS2B/NS3 protease
Research Technique: Everything
Office Location: LRB 927
Lab Location: LRB 970
Phone: 508-856-2251 -
Al Shaqra , PhD, MBA
Lab ManagerResearch Theme: Drug Resistance
Diseases: HIV; HCV; Cancer; Influenza; Dengue
Proteins: HIV-1 protease; HCV NS3/4A protease; Influenza neuraminidase; Dengue NS2B/NS3
Research Techniques: Lab Managing; Protein Expression; Protein Crystallization; Enzyme Inhibition
Research Interest: Using structural biology in conjunction with biochemistry and biophysics to design potent therapeutic candidates for human diseases.
Office Location: LRB 970
Lab Location: LRB 970
Phone: 508-856-2636 -
Mohan Somasundaran , PhD
Associate Professor. VirologistResearch Theme: Virus-Cell interactions, Antivirals, Drug Resistance
Diseases: HIV; Influenza; SARS-CoV2; Cancer
Proteins: Influenza hemagglutinin/neuraminidase; SARS-CoV2 Spike/Proteases; Ace2, TMPRSS2; APOBEC3's; HIV-1 protease
Research Technique: Molecular Virology; Cryo EM/ET; Virus lab
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Matthew Wong
PhD CandidateResearch Theme: HIV maturation
Disease: HIV
Proteins: HIV-1 Gag and GagPol
Research Techniques: Molecular dynamics, Structure prediction and modeling
Research Interest: Using molecular dynamics simulations to probe the dynamics of HIV Gag and GagPol processing