Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biological Informatics for FY2001

Peterson, Ronald W, Springfield PA

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biological Informatics for FY2001. The fellowship supports research and training at the postdoctoral level at the intersection of biology and the informational, computational, mathematical, and statistical sciences. The goal of the fellowship is to provide training to a young scientist in preparation for a career in biological informatics in which research and education will be integrated. There is an increasing need for training in biological informatics at all occupational levels, and it is expected that Fellows trained through these fellowships will play important roles in training of the future workforce. The research and training plan for this fellowship is entitled "Development of strategies for designing novel catalytic enzymes." This work includes an informational approach followed by experimental application of the results. The informatics portion includes parameterization of a whole protein energy function based on mutant to wild-type redesigns of proteins from various structural databases. Second, a comprehensive cataloging of specific interactions in natural cytochromes is being conducted, noting the conformational positioning of the reactive centers of these molecules. The strategies developed from these sections will be applied experimentally to design a novel synthetic cytochome with heme binding and reactivity approaching that of its naturally occurring counterparts.