Our projects are funded by NIH grants. One project is a GM (General Medicine) sponsored Program Project (see Program's web site), to investigate
how, and in what ways, atomic motion in proteins contributes to the
functioning of enzymes. This project is a collaborative venture involving the
laboratories of Vern Schramm (The Schramm Lab), Steve Schwartz (The Schwartz Lab), and Bob Callender at Albert Einstein, and Brian Dyer (The Dyer Lab) at Emory University. The second grant is funded by National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. This work develops and then applies new advanced methods of imaging, or 'seeing', the motion of the atoms within proteins while they are functioning. The fruits of both studies should lead to a thorough understanding of some diseases, and can lead to new drugs as well as laboratory diagnostic methods.
The studies investigating how the dynamical nature of proteins
contribute to the enormous catalytic power of enzymes employ advanced laser
methods to initiate the catalyzed chemistry in as fast as 10 ps, while the
structure of the evolving system is mapped out with fluorescence and isotope
edited vibrational spectrosocpies. Atomic motion, and its relationship to the
on-going catalyzed chemistry, is characterized over a very large time span,
from 10 ps to minutes, and with structural specificity. The techniques being
brought to bear on this subject are state-of-the-art, and some of our work is devoted to their development. Recent representative examples of this work can be found in Chem.
Revs 106, 3031 (2006), Biochemistry 48, 3658 (2009), Biophysical J. 93, 1474 (2007), and Biophysical J. 95, 1974 (2008).
The group working on these projects is quite inter-disciplinary,
and individuals with a background in physical chemistry, biophysics,
biophysical chemistry, computational approaches, fast kinetics studies, and/or
laser spectroscopy might be interested in our studies. Persons with a
background of studying enzyme kinetics using more conventional approaches would
find that background valuable. From time
to time, we expect postdoctoral positions to be available. Please inquire to the email address
below if you are interested. At the moment, two postdoc positions are available. Candidates are expected to have a Ph.D. in Biochemistry or Biophysics or a related field. For the first position, candidates with background in enzyme mechanism/protein function using any spectroscopic technique are encouraged to apply, experience with protein dynamics is a plus. For the second position, candidates with a strong background in computational chemistry focused on biological problems such as enzyme catalysis and protein folding are encouraged to apply. Experience with both molecular dynamics software and coding is a must. Salary will depend on qualifications, and
reappointment for several years is possible. The successful candidates will join a good sized group studying
several interesting areas including enzyme structure and function studies and
the early dynamics of protein folding.
Inquiries can be addressed to dynamics@medusa.bioc.aecom.yu.edu.
Applications and letters of reference should be sent to the same address. Albert Einstein College of Medicine is an Equal Opportunity Employer.