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Houston Area Molecular Biophysics Program (HAMBP) Directory
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Braun, Werner
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Professor
Human Biological Chem & Genetics (HBC&G)
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-747-6810
Website
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The challenge in the post genomic era is to make full use of the vast genomic data in understanding the molecular mechanism of the function of proteins.
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Brennan, Richard G.
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Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
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Email
(713) 834-6390
Website
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Multidrug resistance, protein-nucleic interaction, regulation of gene expression; oxidative stress responses; protein-ligand interaction, toxin-antitoxin structure and function; macromolecular crystallography
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Briggs, James
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Associate Professor
Biology and Biochemistry
University of Houston
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Email
713-743-8366
Website
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Computational studies of protein structure and function; Our research is focused on computational studies of protein structure and function, inhibitor design, investigations of possible inhibitor resistance pathways, and development of methods for the above project areas. Targets for these studies include those important in the treatment of AIDS, cancer, bacterial infections, and other disease states. In addition, we work on inhibitors to aid in biowarfare defense (botulinum neurotoxins, anthrax toxin).
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Cheng, Xiaodong
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Associate Professor
Pharmacology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-772-9656
Website
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Mitogen-activated protein kinases
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Chiu, Wah
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Professor
Biochemistry
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-6985
Website
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Structural and Computational Biology of Biological Machines; Biological applications include viruses, ion channels, membranes, oligomeric proteins and cyotskeletal protein complexes. Dr. Chiu has been a leading investigator in the development of electron cryomicroscopy to solve structures of macromolecular assemblies at increasingly high resolutions. Computationally, his group has developed single particle reconstruction software, which has been widely adopted by other investigators. He directs an NIH supported center (http://ncmi.bcm.edu). Among many structures his group has done, Chiu is pursuing the structural studies of viruses including herpes simplex virus, bacteriophages andVenezuelan equine encephalitis virus. His approach includes single particle and tomographic electron cryomicroscopy.
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Dickinson, Mary
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Assistant Professor
Molec.Physiology
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-2104
Website
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My laboratory uses a multi-disciplinary approach to study the role of fluid-derived mechanical forces in vascular remodeling and heart morphogenesis in early vertebrate embryos. We have recently developed methods for time-lapse, confocal imaging of rapid blood flow and heart mechanics using vital fluorescent protein reporters. With these methods we are studying the response to changes in mechanical stress in mouse and zebrafish models, taking advantage of the wealth of mutant animals.
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Epstein, Henry
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Professor and Chair
ANATOMY & NEUROSCIENCES
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
(409) 772-1826
Website
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Ethun, Karen
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Executive Director, Keck Center
GCC/Keck Center
Gulf Coast Consortia
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Email
713-348-4753
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GCC/Keck Center Programs
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Fox , Robert O.
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Professor
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-772-2163
Website
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Our laboratory investigates the structural basis of macromolecular interactions using a variety of biophysical tools including X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy. The general goal of our laboratory is to determine the manner in which amino acid sequence information promotes the formation of stable folded globular protein molecules and modulates the affinity and specificity of protein ligand interactions. We use molecular genetic tools to produce variant protein molecules for characterization by biophysical methods.
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Gao, Xiaolian
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Professor
Chemistry
University of Houston
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Email
713-743-2805
Website
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Biophysical and organic chemistry; Research in the laboratory is at the interfaces of chemistry and biological sciences. Our work focuses on two areas: (1) Biological NMR of nucleic acids, proteins, and their complexes with ligand molecules. (2) Microarray BIOCHIP technologies in synthesis and applications.
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Gilbert, Hiram
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Associate Dean Graduate School Professor
Biochemistry
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-5880
Website
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Protein Folding
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Gorenstein, David G.
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Professor and Deputy Director
The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine
UT Health Science Center at Houston
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Email
713-500-2408
Website
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Proteomics and nanomedicine for both diagnostics and therapeutics in both infectious diseases and cancer; structural biology, drug design, nucleic acid and protein chemistry
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Hilser, Vincent
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Professor
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-747-6813
Website
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Research in our lab is focused on the experimental characterization of conformational fluctuations, the development and refinement of a general ensemble-based model for fluctuations, and the projection of this thermodynamic model into genomic analysis. Our goals are to unify the description of protein behaviors in such a way as to understand their relationships at the phenomenological level, to codify these relationships in a simple structure-based model, and to apply our model to a number of experimental systems that can be used to test and refine our approach.
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Jackson, Amy
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Assistant Director, Grant Programs
Keck Center
Gulf Coast Consortia
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Email
713-348-4752
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Amy manages the following GCC/Keck Center Training Programs: AHRQ Patient Safety, Biomedical Discovery Training Program, HAMBP, Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience Training Program, NSF REU.
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Jayaraman, Vasanthi
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Associate Professor
Center for Membrane Biology, Dept of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
UT Health Science Center at Houston
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Email
713-500-6236
Website
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Structure and function; membrane bound proteins; ion channels
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Kim, Choel
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Assistant Professor
Pharmacology
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-8411
Website
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Signal transduction, protein-protein recognition, assembly of higher order signal transduction complexes, localized cyclic nucleotide signaling
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Kulmacz, Richard
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Professor
Medical School
UT Health Science Center at Houston
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Email
713-500-6772
Website
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Eicosanoid Biosynthesis
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Landes, Christy
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Assistant Professor
Chemistry
Rice University
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Email
713-348-4232
Website
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Dynamic heterogeneity and its role in biological and synthetic materials function.
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Lee, James C.
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Professor
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-772-2281
Website
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My laboratory is interested in elucidating the molecular mechanisms of regulation, in particular, the ground rules employed in recognizing specific targets and transmitting of signals among these macromolecular components.
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Li, Renhao
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Assistant Professor
Center for Membrane Biology, Dept of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
UT Health Science Center at Houston
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Email
713-500-7233
Website
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Molecular regulation and structural basis of transmembrane signaling
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Ludtke, Steve
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Associate Professor
Biochemistry
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-6989
Website
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My work involves the 3D reconstruction of molecules and macromolecules using a technique called single particle reconstruction. My most significant contribution to the field is the development of the EMAN software package (see below), which performs semi-automated processing of individual molecule images to produce accurate 3D reconstructions.
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Luxon, Bruce
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Director, Professor
UTMB Bioinformatics Program, Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-747-6802
Website
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Metabolomics studies related to diabetes, occupational exposure, cancer, addiction, and infectious disease. We specialize in integrating these data with parallel experiments including genomics, proteomics, kinomics, lipidomics, and LC/MS metabolomics.
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Ma , Jianpeng
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Associate Professor
Bioengineering
Rice University
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Email
713-348-5713
Website
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Simulation of supermolecular complexes; computer-aided drug-design. Our group is using combined experimental and computational methods to study the fusion mechanisms of influenza virus, especially the hemagglutinin-mediated cell membrane fusion. Of particular interest is to derive structural information for intermediates along the pH-triggered conformational transition, which is an extremely difficult problem. We will employ a suite of biophysical techniques including various imagining methods and computer simulation techniques.
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MacKenzie , Kevin R
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Assistant Professor
Biochemistry & Cell Biology
Rice University
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Email
713-348-2228
Website
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Structure and stability of membrane proteins
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Matthews, Kathleen S
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Stewart Memorial Professor, Biochemistry/Cell Bio
Wiess School of Natural Sciences
Rice University
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Email
713-348-4871
Website
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Structure and function of genetic regulatory proteins
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McMurray, John
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Associate Professor
Experimental Therapeutics
UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
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Email
713-745-3763
Website
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Bio-organic chemistry, peptide and peptidomimetic chemistry, structure-guided drug design, protein-protein interaction, enzyme inhibitor design. Our work concerns the design of inhibitors of important protein-protein interactions with the overall goal of developing chemotherapeutic agents as well as reagents to probe signal transduction mechanisms. Our current targets are the STAT (signal transduction and activator of transcription) proteins. Our strategy is to find high affinity peptides to inhibit target protein-protein interactions, determine which parts of the peptide contributes to binding energy, determine the bound conformation, then combine this information to develop small molecule inhibitors that mimic the action of the peptide. Another strategy is screening a small molecule library to find leads.
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Nikonowicz, Edward
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Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Cell Biology
Rice University
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Email
713-348-4912
Website
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RNA-Protein biochemistry, structure-function relationships in nucleic acid systems; In addition to NMR spectroscopy, we use biochemical, computational, and optical methods to investigate the kinetic, motional, and structural properties of the component molecules; The interaction of primary ribosomal proteins with their RNA targets; Post-transcriptional modification of tRNA.
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Oberhauser , Andres
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Associate Professor
Neuroscience and Cell Biology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-772-1309
Website
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Protein folding and protein mechanics; The mechanism by which proteins respond to mechanical forces. Currently we are studying the mechanical properties of the cell matrix protein perlecan (an abundant component of the basal lamina), polycystin-1 (a cell membrane receptor) and projectin (a protein found in insect flight muscles).
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Olson, John Steve
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Dorothy/Ralph Looney Professor
Biochemistry & Cell Biology
Rice University
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Email
713-348-4762
Website
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Application of rapid reaction techniques to biophysical and biochemical problems; protein engineering by recombinant DNA technology; structural (X-ray, IR, and NMR) and functional studies of ligand binding to hemoglobins, myoglobins, and model heme compounds; design of heme protein-based blood substitutes; red blood cell physiology; biosynthesis of heme and hemoglobin; gas transport and exchange in capillaries.
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Palzkill, Timothy
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Chair and Professor
Pharmacology
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-5609
Website
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Molecular Basis of Antibiotic Resistance, Functional Genomics of Bacterial Pathogens
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Penczek, Pawel
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Associate Professor
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
UT Health Science Center at Houston
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Email
713-500-5416
Website
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We are interested in the determination of three-dimensional structures of large macromolecular complexes with low or non-existing symmetry in single-particle form using stain and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and computer image processing techniques.
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Pettitt, B. Monte
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Cullen Distinguished Professor
Chemistry
University of Houston
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Email
713-743-3263
Website
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Chemical physics; Physical chemistry; Biochemistry; Computer Science; Development of methods for calculating internal conformational structure and interpreting conformational equilibria of biomolecular solutes in aqueous environments; Structural and thermodynamic description of neat polar molecular fluids, including water, ions, polar biomolecular solutes and other condensed phase systems via integral equation and density functional methods; Development of theoretical techniques for the description of the thermodynamics and structure of ionic and anisotropic fluids; Development of methods to compare and search genomes
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Prasad, B.V.
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Professor
Biochemistry
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-5686
Website
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Structure-function relationships in medically important viruses. Three-dimensional structural analyses on viruses that are causative agents of endemic severe diarrhea in humans. These viruses include rotavirus, calicivirus, and Norwalk virus.
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Putkey, John
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Professor
Medical School
UT Health Science Center at Houston
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Email
713-500-6061
Website
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My laboratory applies a synergistic blend of molecular and structural biology to study the molecular anatomy of calcium binding proteins; The mechanisms of regulation of calmodulin activity by post-translational modification and modulation of calmodulin binding to target proteins; Exploring the molecular mechanism of regulation of cardiac muscle contraction by calcium binding to cardiac troponin C, and how cardiotonic drugs lead to an increased efficiency of cardiac muscle contraction; Using NMR to reveal the strucutral basis behind why mutations in the extracelluar matix protein COMP lead to skeletal dysplasias and dwarfing syndromes.
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Quiocho, Florante
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Professor
Hhmi Biochemistry
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-6565
Website
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Structural Biophysics and Biology; X-Ray Crystallography of Proteins; Molecular Recognition and Protein-Ligand Interactions. Our research interest is centered on the study of the tertiary structure and function of proteins and enzymes at atomic resolution.
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Rajarathnam, Krishna
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Assistant Professor
Neuroscience and Cell Biology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-772-2238
Website
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Exploiting the structural elements of chemokines and their receptors towards rational design of therapeutics. We are interested in understanding the molecular basis of ligand-receptor interaction.
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Raphael, Robert
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Associate Professor
Bioengineering
Rice University
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Email
713-348-3494
Website
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Cell Mechanics, Electromechanical Transduction in Cochlear Outer Hair Cells and Soft Materials, Theoretical Modeling of Biological Systems, Biophysical Factors Mediating Gene Delivery, Aspirin-Like Molecules and Membrane Mechanics
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Ridge, Kevin
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Associate Professor
Center for Membrane Biology, Dept of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
UT Health Science Center at Houston
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Email
(713) 500-5908
Website
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Dynamic aspects of integral membrane protein structure, development and application of general approaches for the large-scale expression and purification of GPCR's
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Schumacher, Maria A.
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Assistant Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
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Email
(713) 834-6392
Website
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Structural biology; crystallography; DNA partition/segregation; transcription regulation; nucleic acid-binding proteins
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Shamoo , Yousif
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Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Cell Biology
Rice University
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Email
713-348-5493
Website
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sequence-specic RNA recognition, DNA replication and molecular evolution of microbial populations
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Spudich, John
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Professor/ R. Welch Dist Chr in Chemistry
Center for Membrane Biology, Dept of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
UT Health Science Center at Houston
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Email
713-500-5473
Website
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Structure and function of photoactive membrane receptors and signal transduction triggered by light; rhodopsins and related heptahelical receptors.
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Tao, Yizhi
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Assistant Professor
Biochemistry &Cell Biology
Rice University
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Email
713-348-4910
Website
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Regulation of virus genome replication; molecular mechanism of eukaryotic chromosome condensation. Influenza viruses cause highly contagious, acute respiratory illnesses which have inflicted humans since ancient times. Today influenza remains as a major concern of public health with frequent threat for widespread epidemics. Replication and expression of virus genome are crucial parts of the virus life cycle. Influenza virus RNA transcription is initiated using a capped RNA primer snatched from host mRNAs, whereas RNA replication does not require any primer and hence the replication products are not capped. Four viral proteins are needed for influenza virus RNA synthesis, including the three viral polymerase proteins PA, PB1 and PB2, and the viral nucleoprotein. Our laboratory uses the electron microscopy and three-dimensional reconstruction method to elucidate how influenza virus polymerase, the nucleoprotein, the viral RNA, and other essential components coordinate their functions to ensure both cap-dependent and cap-independent RNA synthesis. In particular, the structures of various polymerase-RNA complexes will be studied to characterize the transient molecular interactions. Detailed mechanistic studies of influenza virus polymerase will uncover fundamental rules underlying the unique gene expression and replication process shared by segmented, negative-strand and ambi-sense RNA viruses. New antiviral drugs can be designed against the polymerases of these viruses, targeting a few of their virus-specific activities.
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Tsai, Ah-Lim
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Professor
Medical School, Internal Medicine
UT Health Science Center at Houston
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Email
713-500-6771
Website
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Structure/Function and Reaction Mechanism of Important Metalloproteins
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Tsai, Francis
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Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-8668
Website
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Structure and function of macromolecular complexes and supramolecular assemblies involved in protein folding, transcriptional regulation and cellular signaling.
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Waxham, Neal
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Professor
Neurobiology & Anatomy
UT Health Science Center at Houston
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Email
713.500.5621
Website
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synaptic plasticity and transmission in the mammalian CNS
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Wensel, Theodore G
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Professor
Biochemistry
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-6994
Website
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Structure and Dynamics of Signal Transducing Membranes
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Yeo, Hye-Jeong
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Assistant Professor
Biology and Biochemistry
University of Houston
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Email
(713)743-8377
Website
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Zechiedrich, E. Lynn
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AssociateProfessor
Molecular Virology & Microbiology
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-5126
Website
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DNA topoisomererases and antimicrobial resistance
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