My work on polyketide antibiotic biosynthetic mechanisms has led to new methods for engineering enzymatic assembly lines to make novel antibiotics. My collaborators and I have also studied the molecular basis of celiac disease with an eye toward developing non-dietary therapies for this widespread but neglected autoimmune disorder.
My group has discovered a series of fundamentally and practically important chemical reactions and defined several key principles in catalytic chemistry. Through the discovery and development of chiral Schiff base complexes of main group and transition metals and of novel organic catalysts, we have devised effective methods for a wide variety of stereoselective catalytic oxidative, … Continued
My research area is computational and theoretical chemistry. We focus on electronic structure theory, as well as efficient algorithms and software for using electronic structure methods to simulate chemistry on computers. Specific topics include density functional theory, wave function theory for strong correlations in ground and excited states, and analysis of intra- and inter-molecular interactions. … Continued
My laboratory focuses on synthetic organic chemistry. A major thrust involves the study of microbiome metabolites that have been implicated in colorectal cancer. We are trying to elucidate the structures of the metabolites and their mechanisms of genotoxicity, which will inform therapeutic strategies to combat colorectal cancer. A second focus involves developing new antibiotics to … Continued
My research group efforts focus on the design, synthesis, characterization, and applications of advanced macromolecular materials. We strive to establish structure-property relationships and to discover and develop technologically important applications of polymers. Modern polymer synthesis techniques that include various controlled polymerizations and selective polymer modifications, and these synthetic efforts provide the foundation for most projects. … Continued
My group’s research is centered in inorganic chemistry. Three broad topics currently under investigation are: the development of metal complexes that possess photophysical, redox, and catalytic properties applicable to solar energy conversion and the synthesis of organic molecules, principally through photoredox catalysis; the exploration of inorganic compounds that form ordered supramolecular arrays on planar surfaces, … Continued
Research in our group covers a wide range of subjects at the interface of physics, chemistry, and biology. Fast protein and RNA dynamics in vitro and in vivo are studied by laser temperature jump and by time-resolved microscopy. Laser-assisted scanning tunneling microscopy enables single molecule spectroscopy where the excited states of macromolecules and nanostructures can … Continued
A concerted effort of our lab is the development of novel techniques and approaches, relying on electron and nuclear spin magnetic resonance that enables the study of biomolecular structure, dynamics and interaction with unprecedented sensitivity, resolution and information content. A core focus of our lab’s development is dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) that amplifies the nuclear … Continued
My group is studying systems at the interface between materials chemistry and biology. We are exploring the use of RNA libraries for the synthesis of solid state materials with unusual shapes and crystal structures. Libraries of 10e14 unique RNAs have been used to generate and select materials with desired characteristics. We are also designing nanoscale … Continued
We use theory and computer simulation to study molecular phenomena at the frontiers of physical chemistry. The systems we study are diverse – ranging from aqueous solutions and interfaces, to biomolecular assemblies, to nanoscale materials – yet they share essential motifs of disorder and heterogeneity. Using the tools of modern statistical mechanics, we explore the … Continued