Post-Doc
Joined: 2001
Graduate Studies: Bioinorganic at Nanjing University in China
Dr. Dao Feng joined our laboratory in 2001. Prior to this she worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Japan at the Research Laboratory of Medical Analysis, Pharmaceutical Sciences at Kumamoto University with Professor Tadayuki Uno. Dao Feng received her Ph.D. in Bioinorganic Chemistry in 1998 from Nanjing University in China and has several years teaching and research experience.

Post-Doc
Joined: 2009
Graduate Studies: Allostery of Glycogen Phosphorylase at Texas A&M University
Dr. Bigley joined our laboratory in 2008. His current research: Evolution of phosphotriesteras(PTE) for the efficient degradation of VX nerve agent. Using a combination of rational design, molecular modeling, gene library construction and screening, variants of PTE enhanced with ability to degrade nerve agent analogs are identified. Variants of interest are kinetically characterized with relevant substrates to determine substrate and stereochemical preferences. The structures of beneficial variants are solved via X-ray Crystallography to identify the structural basis of the enhancements and guide further evolution.

Post-Doc
Joined: 2014
Graduate Studies: Wesleyan University

Post-Doc
Joined: 2014
Mark joined the group in 2014 and is working on several projects where
he uses techniques in structural biology and enzymology to
characterize enzymes in the C-P lyase complex and the amidohydrolase
family in general. Prior to his stint at Texas A&M, he worked at Duke
University Medical School where he determined crystal structures of
prenyltransferases in infectious fungi as druggable targets for the
treatment of diseases. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the
University of Utah where he worked on enzymes involved in the
mevalonate pathway.
 

Graduate Student
Joined: 2011
Keya graduated with a B.Sc degree in Life Sciences from the Ramnarain Ruia College, University of Mumbai 2007 ana M.Sc. degree in Biotechnology from the University of Essex, UK in 2008. She became an official member of the Raushel Group in April 2011, working for the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics. Her project consists of mechanistic characterization of the C-P lyase pathway. This work includes kinetic studies, structural analysis and bioinformatics work.

Graduate Student
Joined: 2011
Zhongjie Ren received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Nanjing University, Nanjing, China 2011. As a graduate student of biochemistry and biophysics, He officially joined Dr. Raushel’s lab in fall 2012. His research is focused on the determination of structure and enzymatic activity of the carbon-phosphorus lyase multi-protein complex.

Graduate Student
Joined: 2014
Yuan gradated with a B.Sc of Chemistry from College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, China. In 2013, He enrolled as a graduate student in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and joined the Raushel Lab in 2014. Currently, his project focuses on deciphering the function of an unknown protein from Salmonella enterica, which belongs to glutamine amidotransferase Class I.

Graduate Student
Joined: 2015
Tess graduated from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in May 2012 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Chemistry. She then taught college English-speaking courses for two years in China. In the fall of 2014, she became a Chemistry graduate student and joined Dr. Raushel’s lab in January 2015. She is currently working on understanding the mechanism of lignin degradation by the soil bacteria Sphingomonas paucimobilis, specifically the enzyme 4-oxalomesaconate hydratase (Lig J) of the Protocatechuate 4,5-Cleavage pathway.