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Crystallography Research Program

Meet the scientists in this program

Crystallography visualizes molecular structures and components of living cells at atomic resolutions. We can then use their forms and shapes to further elucidate sequences of events in normal or disease states.

The primary emphasis of OMRF's Crystallography Research Program is to provide an arena for studying and understanding the structures of biologically and biomedically relevant proteins. Structures are determined using X-ray diffraction coupled with interactive computer graphics. We make every effort to determine the biological relevance of these structures. We assess function, mechanisms of action and interactions between the proteins with other macromolecules in conjunction with crystallography through molecular biology applications such as mutagenesis and advanced biochemical and kinetic analysis.

This combined approach renders interpretable structure analysis capability. This is crucial, because it is no longer sufficient to know how structures and complexes appear; we must also understand how they work.

In addition, the Crystallography Research Program endeavors to serve the needs of other OMRF research programs and participates in special collaborative efforts outside this institution. Some of the research interests currently under investigation within out department include three-dimensional structures of cardiovascular system-related macromolecular drugs, cellular metabolism and transport regulators along with their associated molecular partners.