Current Research and Scholarly Interests
Bacterial lipoproteins are characterized by a covalently attached lipid moiety that anchors the protein to cellular membranes. In bacteria, these lipoproteins play key roles in bacterial physiology, including signaling, nutrient acquisition, and host-pathogen interactions. Our lab is divided into two research areas related to lipoproteins:
Area 1: To characterize the structure and function of bacterial lipoproteins in the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease.
Area 2: To develop and characterize lipoprotein-based nanoparticles, materials, and therapeutics.
Keywords: Biochemistry, bioengineering, biophysics, biotechnology, drug discovery, microbiology, protein engineering, structural biology, x-ray crystallography, cryoEM, nanoparticles
