Lab Members
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Daniel Bolon, PhDPrincipal InvestigatorLRB 922 Daniel Bolon majored in biochemistry at Duke University where he received his bachelor degree in 1997. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2002 from Caltech where he studied computational enzyme design with Steve Mayo. As a postdoctoral fellow at MIT, he worked with Bob Sauer investigating the mechanism of adapter mediated protein degradation. In 2005, he joined the faculty in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. His lab developed the EMPIRIC approach to systematically quantify the impacts of all point mutations on protein function. His lab continues to utilize protein fitness landscapes to understand mechanism in protein function and evolution. |
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Mohan Somasundaran, PhDAssociate ProfessorLRB 960D For his PhD, Mohan Somasundaran investigated protein-ligand interactions of sialic acid binding lectin (Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Calcutta and Stevens Institute of Technology, NJ). His postdoctoral studies were on lysosomal storage diseases (Washington University, St. Louis), and on HIV-1 cytopathology (Worcester Foundation/UMass Chan Medical School). He continued as faculty at UMass Chan Medical School to pursue molecular virology projects focusing on genotypic and phenotypic factors of cell-entry, replication and donor-to-recipient transmission of HIV, EBV, CMV and emerging infectious human pathogens (SARS-CoV). He was the Director of BSL-3 Core Virus Lab, and is member of UMass IBC. His research interests are to:
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Julia Flynn, PhDAssistant ProfessorLRB 960D Julia Flynn graduated from Brown University with a degree in Biochemistry. Her undergraduate thesis work involved characterizing mutants of the chaperone GroEL in Jorg Martin's laboratory. She received her Ph.D. from MIT in Tania Baker's lab investigating the role of the AAA+ protease, ClpXP, in regulating cellular protein turnover. Currently, Julia uses EMPIRIC to determine the fitness landscape of all single mutations of Hsp90 under various environmental conditions to provide insight into both the function and evolution of the chaperone. In her free time, Julia enjoys petting her cats and reading books in the sun. |
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Gila Schneider Nachum, PhDSenior Research ScientistLRB 960E Gily graduated and received her Ph.D. from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel where she studied metal binding peptides in the water fern Azolla with Elisha Tel-Or. Her lab project involves investigating the correlation between partially active mutants of HIV-1 protease, identified by viral screening using the EMPIRIC method, with their function in vitro, using a variety of enzymatic assays. Aside from scientific endeavors, she loves summer and sunny days which often give her time to indulge in the pleasures of reading and swimming. |
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Neha S. SamantGraduate StudentLRB 960C Neha obtained a B.Tech degree in India and then earned her Masters in Science in Biotechnology at University of Texas San Antonio in 2012. She then worked for two years in Genomic Medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center Texas where she was a part of a team focusing on understanding of the epigenome in cancer progression. Currently, as a PhD student in the Bolon lab, she focuses on using yeast genetics and the EMPIRIC approach combined with virology to investigate drug resistance and evolution of the HIV protease substrate. Besides science, she enjoys travelling, camping, watching movies and painting. |
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Vivian SaravananResearch AssociateLRB 960 |
