Community

X-Sci 2006 Speaker

Jeremiah S Joseph, Ph.D.

Senior Research Associate
Department of Cell Biology & Department of Molecular Biology

Education and Experience

Ph.D. (Biochemistry), National University of Singapore, Singapore M.Sc. (Biotechnology), Madurai Kamaraj University, India

Research Fellow, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Singapore

Research Associate, Genome Institute of Singapore, Singapore

Research Officer, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Publications

Click here to view a list of publications.

Research Focus

Structural and Functional Proteomics of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) When faced with newly emerging infectious diseases, rapid rational therapeutic and prophylactic responses are of the highest priority. The emergence of the coronavirus responsible for the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the high mortality rates and economic impact associated with it, afforded the scientific community an opportunity to test the utility of state-of-the-art post-genomic technologies to characterize and combat this virus. While virus identification and complete genome sequencing took mere weeks, they have been tough acts to follow for drug and vaccine development. I am part of a multi-pronged initiative to understand and address precisely this bottleneck. We are using a structural and functional proteomics approach involving bioinformatics, structural biology (X-ray crystallography, NMR, cryo electron microscopy), genetic approaches (site-directed mutagenesis, antisense functional mapping, microarray-based functional mapping), and macromolecular interaction studies (nano-calorimetry, ligand fishing techniques, mass spectrometry) to generate a structure-function-interaction map of the entire proteome of the SARS virus and its interactions with the host cell. This presents an exciting and comprehensive set of targets for rational, structure-based drug and vaccine design, and defines a paradigm that can be successfully adopted for any emerging infectious disease.