Research in Biological and Carbohydrate Chemistry includes the study of the structures and functions of proteins and complex carbohydrates to determine their roles in growth and development, host-pathogen interactions, and disease processes. To investigate their chemistry and their physiological, developmental, and molecular biology, these research groups develop and use advanced analytical techniques, including mass spectrometry, NMR, EPR, and Raman spectroscopies, chemical and enzymatic synthesis, computer modeling, artificial neural networks, tissue culture, immunocytochemistry, and recombinant genetics.

Personnel


Mike Adams
Distinguished Research Professor

The research projects in our laboratory concern hyperthermophiles, which are microorganisms that grow near and even above 100°C. The main focus is the archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus (Pf), which grows optimally at the boiling point. The Pf genome contains 2,200 genes and a proteomics effort is in progress involving the large-scale fractionation of…


I. Jonathan Amster
Department Head, Chemistry

My research group specializes in the development and application of Fourier transform mass spectrometry for solving difficult problems in bioanalytical chemistry. We are exploring new methods for analyzing the structural features of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), a class of carbohydrates that play a central role in a number of important biological…


Geert-Jan Boons
Franklin Professor

Our research interest focuses on the synthesis and biological functions of carbohydrates and glycoconjugates. Before the 1970s, scientists solely considered carbohydrates as energy sources, structural components, and protective agents. However, it is now well established that in the living cell carbohydrates play key roles in many crucial…


Timothy Dore
Adjunct Professor

To increase our understanding of biology and medicine, the scientific community requires the continued development of new technologies for studying and manipulating cell physiology. The research interests of the Dore Laboratory at NYUAD lie at the interface of chemistry and biology, creating new technology to study complex biological systems.…


Todd Harrop
Associate Professor

The research in the Harrop group focuses on aspects in the area of bioinorganic chemistry. These interests include the rational design and synthesis of structural and functional models of metalloenzyme active sites involved in small molecule activation, especially the superoxide detoxifying enzymes like superoxide reductase (SOR, a non-heme…


Michael Johnson
Regents Professor

Our research concerns the role and assembly of transition metal centers in metalloenzymes and metalloproteins. Metal centers constitute the active sites of at least one third of all enzymes and determining the assembly mechanism of metallocenters and the electronic and structural properties of metal centers that confer selective and specific…


William Lanzilotta
Adjunct Professor

Introduction- In general, a very broad description of the work of interest to this laboratory are the mechanisms of metalloproteins involved in radical generation, oxidative stress protection, as well as heme synthesis, sensing, aquisition and transport.

With very few exceptions, heme is required by most organisms for a vast array of…


Ron Orlando
Adjunct Professor

Our research focuses on the use of mass spectrometry to answer biological/biomedical questions. The majority of our projects involve characterizing the post-translational modifications (e.g., glycosylation, phosphorylation) present on the protein of interest. For example, we are currently investigating the in vivo changes that occur in human…


Robert Phillips
Professor

Enzymes are remarkable biocatalysts, not only for the dramatic rate accelerations (up to 1020 fold) that they provide, but also for the high degree of substrate specificity, regiospecificity and stereospecificity that these reactions exhibit. The work in my laboratory is focused on the chemical basis for how enzymes achieve such high rates and…


Vladimir Popik
Professor

Photoswitchable bioactive compounds: Photoactivation of drugs, enzymes, and other bio-molecules allows for achieving of the spatial and temporal control of their action. We design and synthesize compounds that are inactive in the dark but are converted into bioactive form upon irradiation with light of an appropriate wavelength. One of our…