TSRI Faculty Interests

Nucleic Acid Structure and Function

Boger, Dale  
works on the total synthesis of biologically active natural products using the tools of organic synthesis to identify, imitate, understand, exploit, and sometimes surpass what nature provides.

Deniz, Ashok  
develops and uses single-molecule fluorescence methods to study the dynamics and interactions of biological molecules during such processes as protein/RNA folding and assembly of the 30S subunit of the bacterial ribosome.

Dyson, Helen Jane  
uses NMR to study the protein-folding process and to study the nature and behavior of unfolded and partly folded forms of proteins, including prion proteins and several newly-discovered, intrinsically unstructured proteins.

Fedor, Martha  
investigates RNA enzymes using enzymological and biochemical methods to learn how RNAs assemble into functional structures and catalyze biological transformations.

Gottesfeld, Joel  
is concerned with protein-DNA interactions involved in the transcriptional regulation in animal cells and the development of small molecule inhibitors and activators of gene expression.

Joyce, Gerald  
studies the test-tube evolution of RNA and DNA enzymes, both to explore their potential biomedical applications and to examine their possible role in the early history of life on Earth.

Lazzerini Denchi, Eros  
focuses on the mechanisms that protect chromosome ends and their deregulation in human pathologies such as cancer and aging

MacRae, Ian  
combines structural biology, biochemistry and cell biology to understand mechanisms of gene regulation by RNA interference.

Millar, David  
uses single-molecule fluorescence and time-resolved laser spectroscopy to study the dynamics of enzyme-DNA interactions and the folding of catalytic RNA molecules.

Romesberg, Floyd  
seeks to understand and evolve novel protein function by expanding the genetic code, to understand the molecular basis of DNA damage, repair, and mutagenesis, and to use femtosecond laser pulses to probe protein dynamics.

Stout, C. David 
determines crystal structures of a variety of biological macromolecules, primarily integral membrane associated enzymes and proton pumps, cytochrome P450s, and iron-sulfur enzymes, and including HIV protease mutants, self-assembling peptides, and RNA-protein complexes, in order to understand structure-function relationships and establish mechanism.

Tainer, John  
develops and applies advanced tools for high-impact structural biology including combined x-ray scattering in solution and x-ray crystallography on complexes at his synchrotron beamline to bridge from complexes and conformations to pathways and phenotypes by characterizing macromolecular machines, novel inhibitors, and the molecular basis for diseases and intervention strategies.

Williamson, Jamie  
studies the structure and dynamics of RNA molecules and RNA-protein complexes involved in the regulation of gene expression by employing NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography for solving high-resolution three-dimensional structures and examining the mechanism of assembly of multiprotein-RNA complexes.

Wright, Peter  
uses high-resolution, multi-dimensional, hetero-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to study protein dynamics, folding, and recognition, particularly of structures of protein-DNA and protein-protein complexes involved in the regulation of transcription.