Graduate Mentors
Sep. 6, 2019
Lesa J. Beamer
Educational background Courses taught…
Sep. 5, 2019
John J. Tanner
Educational background…
Sep. 5, 2019
Michael S. Chapman
Structural Virology – Host Interactions: The US Food & Drug Administration has now approved two gene replacement therapies: Luxturna™ (2017), a treatment for congenital blindness and Zolgenesma™ (2019) for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). 1,500 SMA infants have now been treated for this debilitating and fatal genetic disorder. These, and treatments for hemophilia and other diseases, use recombinant rAAV vectors to deliver DNA to afflicted cells. Our structure-function analyses provide a fundamental understanding of the atomic interactions key to cell entry, trafficking, and immune neutralization. These foundations are needed for the engineering of gene therapy vectors that are efficient and…
Sep. 5, 2019
Xiao Heng
The 5′-cap of HIV-1 incompletely spliced mRNAs undergoes hypermethylation by the host trimethylguanosine synthase, resulting in the formation of a trimethylguanosine (TMG) cap. Disrupting this process markedly diminishes HIV infectivity, as the TMG-cap enables the viral RNA to access a specialized translation pathway, ensuring sustained viral protein synthesis when the host’s global translation pathway is dampened in response to the stress induced by pathogen invasion. Our lab focuses on characterizing the RNA structures and molecular interactions necessary for the cap epigenetic modification, using a variety of biophysical techniques including NMR spectroscopy, cryoEM, small angle X-ray scattering and isothermal titration…
Sep. 3, 2019
Shuangyu Xu
Educational background Courses taught…
Sep. 1, 2019
Shi-jie Chen
Education BS Physics Zhejiang University China PhD Physics University of California, San Diego San Diego, Calif. Research Area Prediction of RNA structure and functions and computational design of RNA-based therapeutic strategies. Research Description We develop computer models for biomolecular structure and function with focus on RNA molecules. Biological molecules are large organic molecules composed of hundreds or thousands of atoms bound together by covalent bonds into a chain-like structure. One of the best known challenges in biology is to understand how biomolecules fold properly into compact structures to perform biological functions and how they misfold to cause disease. We develop…
March 19, 2019
Ahmed Balboula
Dr. Balboula conducted his Ph.D. research in Japan (funded by Egypt-Japan Ph.D. Joint Supervision Program) and his postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University. Dr. Balboula joined the University of Cambridge in the UK as a Marie Curie Fellow before starting his independent laboratory at the University of Missouri in 2019. Research conducted in the Balboula laboratory employs cutting-edge imaging technologies, transgenic mouse models and genetic approaches to understand the molecular mechanisms regulating mammalian oocyte meiosis and early embryonic development. Dr. Balboula has been recognized with several research awards, including the 2023 SSR Virendra B.
Feb. 19, 2019
Bill Folk
Educational background Courses taught…
Jan. 30, 2019
Rebecca Mott
Educational background…
Nov. 5, 2018
Amanda L. Patterson
Educational background Courses taught…