Speaker biographies
Marius Clore NIDDK, National Institutes of Health, USA
Dr Clore’s research focuses on the development and application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to study the structure and dynamics of biological macromolecules and their complexes in solution. He is particularly interested in exploring fundamental questions associated with protein dynamics and macromolecular interactions. His research group is using NMR to detect and characterise short-lived, sparsely- populated states of macromolecules. Many important biological processes proceed through transient intermediate states that comprise only a fraction of the overall population of a molecular system. As a result, they are invisible (i.e. ‘dark’) to conventional biophysical techniques (including crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy and single molecule spectroscopies). The group’s research provides new insights into macromolecular recognition and assembly, and the effect of the invisible ‘dark’ state on some NMR observables so that its footprint is readily observed in measurements on the NMR visible species. His work on amyloid-β, huntingtin and Hsp40 has implications for the treatment of a range of neurodegenerative diseases associated with protein aggregation and amyloid formation. Marius Clore is a NIH Distinguished Investigator, a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He has won numerous awards including the RSC Centenary and Khorana Prizes, and the Biochemical Society Centenary Award.
Claire Eyers University of Liverpool, UK
Professor Eyers’ team use analytical chemistry strategies, specifically based around a technique called mass spectrometry, to explore the protein components of cells and tissues. Mass spectrometry is a sophisticated strategy for determining mass, which the team use to work out the amount and sequence of proteins from biological, environmental or clinical samples. They develop different ways of using this technique to understand how biological systems respond to their environment or change as a result of disease. By defining changes in cellular protein profile under different conditions, the team can devise strategies to exploit these for therapeutic intervention, to develop hypotheses to understand biological drivers, or to use as markers of disease.
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