Research in our lab focuses on understanding how proteins function at the structural level. We employ a variety of biochemical and biophysical techniques, however our primary tool is protein X-ray crystallography. Through a detailed knowledge of what a protein looks like in three dimensions, we can understand how these proteins function (or don’t) in their biological role.

Detailed knowledge of a protein’s structure also allows one to gain an understanding of how we might affect its function through mutation. For example, in the case of drug targets a detailed understanding of a target protein’s structure can aid the the development of a structurally-based therapeutic. Also, detailed structural information can lead to development of protein-based systems for nanotech applications.