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Computational and Structural Biology in Biodefense Training Program Directory
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Atmar, Robert L.
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Associate Professor of Medicine and of Molecular Virology and Microbiology
Infectious Diseases
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-6849
Website
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My research interests are in two main areas. The first is in the study of respiratory viruses, including their epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment and prevention. My second area of interest is in enteric viruses and environmental virology, with a special emphasis on noroviruses. We use Norwalk virus as a model virus for our studies, both in the laboratory and in an experimental human infection model. I am interested in the development and application of diagnostic approaches to detect enteric viral pathogens in waters, shellfish, and other foods.
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Barrett, Alan
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Professor
Pathology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
(409) 772-6662
Website
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My research program focuses on two groups of viruses: flaviviruses and bunyaviruses. Both groups contain viruses that are transmitted by arthropods, such as mosquitoes and ticks, and are given the general term of
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Bolen , D. Wayne
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Professor
Human Biological Chem & Genetics (HBC&G)
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-772-0754
Website
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The research in my laboratory involves two closely related areas of protein physical chemistry: (1) the physico-chemical bases of the ability of naturally occurring protecting osmolytes to stabilize proteins, and (2) the thermodynamics of denaturant-induced transitions of proteins.
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Bourne, Nigel
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Associate Professor, Pediatrics
Microbiology and Immunology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-747-8144
Website
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Structural biology of viral infection
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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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Butel, Janet
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Distinguished Service Professor and Head
Molecular Virology & Microbiology
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-4443
Website
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We are interested in small DNA tumor viruses called polyomaviruses, the structure and function of the viral oncogene proteins, and mechanisms of tumor development.
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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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Davey, Robert
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Assoc Professor
Microbiology and Immunology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-772-4915
Website
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Our research focuses on how membrane enveloped viruses enter cells. Understanding this event would aid the development of drugs to prevent the cell to cell spread of viruses such as HIV. Research mixes Virology and Structural Biology to dissect the trigger mechanism and the molecular motor that drive the fusion of the viral and cell membranes. We are working on Murine Leukemia Viruses but will soon look at other enveloped viruses that cause human disease; Use of nanoscale technologies to treat human genetic and infectious disease.
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Deem , Michael W.
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John W. Cox Professor
Bioengineering
Rice University
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Email
713-348-5852
Website
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Vaccine design; physical theories of pathogen evolution and the immune response; Newton's laws of biology.
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Estes, Mary K.
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Professor
Virology & Microbiology
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-3585
Website
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Molecular biology and structure of virus assembly; multidisciplinary approaches to probe the structure and molecular biology of GI viruses to understand the basic mechanisms that control virus replication, morphogenesis, virus-host interactions, and pathogenesis.
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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, George E.
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Professor
Biology and Biochemistry
University of Houston
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Email
713-743-8363
Website
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Molecular Evolution, Bioinformatics, RNA structure and Evolution, Origin of Life, Environmental Monitoring, Molecular Biology, Array Hybridization; Protein folding, genomics, proteomics and systems biology
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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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Glueck, Melissa
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Administrative Program Director
Keck Center
Gulf Coast Consortia
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Email
713-348-4563
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Melissa manages the following GCC/Keck Center Training Programs: AHRQ Patient Safety and Quality, Computational and Structural Biology in Biodefense (CSBB), Keck Virus Imaging, Nanobiology, Pharmacoinformatics, and NLM.
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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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Greenberg, Stephen B.
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Professor
Department of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-4775
Website
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I have been involved in the impact of respiratory viral infections in asthmatic and COPD patients. In addition I have been defining the role of non-typeable Hemophilus influenzae (NTHi) in COPD patients as a major cause of exacerbations. These studies have led to a rethinking of the relative importance of viruses such as rhinoviruses and parainfluenzaviruses in causing exacerbations
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Herzog, Norbert K.
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Professor and Assistant Dean, GSBS; Member Faculty, WHO Collaborating Center for Tropical Diseases
Department of Pathology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-772-2618 /
Website
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My laboratory is engaged in research into the processes of cellular signal transduction and their role in disease pathogenesis. I study the role of cellular transcription factors in normal cellular signal transduction in an effort to understand how alterations in these systems lead to or contribute to diseases such as cancer and infectious diseases. Lassa Fever, and many other hemorrhagic fever viruses as well as West Nile virus are on the select list of bioterrorist threat agents.
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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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Keitel, Wendy A.
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Associate Professor
Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology
Baylor College of Medicine
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Email
713-798-5250
Website
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We are interested in the development and evaluation of a number of vaccines, with a particular emphasis on prevention of respiratory infections. Our group is involved in both the preclinical and clinical stages of vaccine development, including phase I to phase III clinical trials. Recent research activities have focused on the development of live attenuated and improved inactivated influenza virus vaccines, acellular pertussis vaccines, and pneumococcal vaccines. Major goals for improved vaccines include enhancement of mucosal and cell-mediated immune responses.
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Klimpel, Gary R.
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Professor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-772-4917
Website
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Two areas of immunobiology are investigated in this laboratory. One area is the study of how the human innate immune response is affected by Francisella tularensis, a select agent, Category A on the NIAID list of priority pathogens. This work involves investigating human monocytes, macrophages, NK cells, and dendritic cells. We are interested in comparing avirulent versus virulent bacteria. A second project involves investigating the immunobiology of leptospirosis, a very problematic disease of underdeveloped countries, caused by a spirochete of the genus Leptospira. In this study, we are investigating not only the human innate immune response but also T cell memory responses.
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Koehler, Theresa M.
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Professor
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
UT Health Science Center at Houston
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Email
713-500-5450
Website
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Our lab studies the genetics, physiology and virulence in the gene expression of Bacillus anthracis. Work is focused on the pathogenesis of anthrax, host-parasite relationship and signal transduction. Bacillus anthracisis distinguished by its ability to cause anthrax in mammals. Depending upon the route of entry, infection with spores can result in cutaneous disease, which is readily treatable with antibiotics, or systemic disease, which is often fatal. The continuing worldwide incidence of anthrax in animal populations, risk of human infection associated with animal outbreaks, and potential for use of B. anthracis as a biological weapon, warrant continued investigation of this organism and its virulence mechanisms
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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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Lemon, Stanley
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Dean
Department of Medicine
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
(409) 772-4793
Website
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The research in my lab focuses on hepatitis C and hepatitis A viruses: two plus-strand RNA viruses that cause significant disease in human populations. We are particularly interested in building better model systems for hepatitis C, and in characterizing the mechanisms by which these virus RNAs initiate cap-independent translation of their polyprotein.
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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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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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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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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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Peters, Clarence (C.J.)
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Professor; Director for Biodefense, Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases
Department of Pathology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-772-0090
Website
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The pathogenesis and epidemiology of the viral hemorrhagic fevers and other emerging viral infections; Virology, immunology and structural biology applied to this field; Bunyaviridae (phleboviruses such as Rift Valley fever), Arenaviridae (Lassa fever, South American hemorrhagic fevers) and SARS CoV. He works closely with members of the trining center who are specialists in imaging to choose and execute experiments that are of biological significance and to prepare viruses for examination.
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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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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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Roberts, Norbert J.
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Professor of Microbiology and Immunology; Member, WHO Collaborating Center for Tropical Diseases
Department of Infectious Diseases
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-747-0236
Website
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Host defense mechanisms, antiviral immunity, influenza virus infections, influenza virus pathogenesis, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) pathogenesis
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Sastry, Jagannadha K.
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Professor
Immunology
UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
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Email
713-563-3304
Website
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HIV-AIDS; cervical cancer; vaccines; cellular immunology; synthetic peptides. Research in my laboratory focuses on understanding the molecular basis of immune disorders, and developing therapeutic and vaccine reagents. We are concentrating on two immune disorders: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) induced by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and cervical cancer associated with infection by human papillomavirus (HPV).
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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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Walker, David H.
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Professor and Department Chair
Pathology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409 - 772-2856
Website
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My research interests are broadly in the area of obligately intracellular bacteria that are transmitted by arthropod vectors. Two research projects currently funded by the NIH are focused on immune mechanisms against rickettsiae and ehrlichiae and identification of the immuno-dominant surface protein antigens that stimulate immunity.
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Watowich, Stanley
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Associate Professor
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-747-4749
Website
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Dr. Watowich has long-standing interest in virus structure, function, host-responses to infection, and antiviral drug development. The laboratory has solved the crystal structures of individual non-structural and structural proteins from alphaviruses, and carried out biochemical and biophysical studies of flavivirus and alphavirus proteins. Structures of intact RNA viruses and their assembly mechanisms are studied by electron cryomicroscopy, image reconstruction, and biophysical techniques. Structure-based computational drug discovery, in vitro inhibition assays, and cell- based replication assays are used to develop antiviral agents.
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Weaver, Scott C.
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Professor
Department of Pathology
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
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Email
409-747-0758
Website
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Our research focuses on the genetics, ecology, evolution and pathogenesis of arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), virus-mosquito interactions and vaccine development. We study arboviruses, principally alphaviruses and dengue virus, with emphasis on viral mutations that mediate host range changes, leading to disease emergence. Using confocal microscopy in concert with alphaviruses or replicon virus-like particles that express green fluorescent protein (GFP), we study infection of rodents and horses with alphaviruses, as well as mosquitoes. We also collaborate with Wah Chiu and Stan Watowich on structural studies of Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus (TC-83 vaccine strain) using cryoelectron microscopy, and we intend to extend these studies to wild-type strains with the ultimate goal of understanding the structural changes that mediate VEE emergence.
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Willson, Richard
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Professor
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
University of Houston
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Email
713-743-4308
Website
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Biomolecular recognition and its applications in separations and molecular diagnostics; the structural determinants of molecular recognition in complexes of proteins with recognition agents such as monoclonal antibodies and aptamers. Our primary techniques are expression, mutagenesis, fluorescence anisotropy (kinetics) and titration calorimetry.
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