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Magnetic Minerals Made from
Scratch
Jarosite minerals exhibit the unusual property of spin-frustration
but the inability to obtain them in pure form has stymied magnetic
studies. Postdoctoral researcher Dr. Daniel Grohol and Professor Daniel
G. Nocera have solved the thirty-year old synthetic problem and
prepared large single crystals of jarosite. |
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From RNA to DNA: crystal
structure of class II ribonucleotide reductase
Ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs) catalyze the rate-limiting step in
DNA biosynthesis, and are therefore attractive anti-tumor, anti-viral,
and anti-bacterial drug targets. To understand these fascinating and
complex enzymes, Chemistry Department Professors Cathy
Drennan, Bob Griffin, Dan
Nocera, and JoAnne Stubbe
are applying techniques as diverse as x-ray diffraction, electron
paramagnetic spectroscopy, and yeast genetics. Mike Sintchak (Drennan
Group) has determined the first three-dimensional structure of
a class II ribonucleotide reductase (Sintchak et al (2002) Nature
Structural Biology 9, 293). This structure completes the trilogy of
structures defining the catalytic subunits of the three classes of
RNR, and allows us to examine the allosteric regulation of a monomeric
enzyme. |
Chemistry Department welcomes new faculty
members Mohammad Movassaghi, Sarah E. O'Connor, and Troy Van Voorhis
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Mohammad
Movassaghi received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and his
B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. He
is currently a Damon Runyon post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University.
He will join the faculty in the Department of Chemistry at MIT in
July 2003. His research interest is complex natural product synthesis
in concert with the discovery and the development of new reactions
for organic synthesis. |
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Sarah O'Connor
received her B.S. in chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1995
and her Ph.D. from MIT with Barbara Imperiali in 2001. She is currently
an Irving S. Sigal post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Biological
Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School with
Christopher Walsh. Dr. O'Connor will join the faculty in the Department
of Chemistry at MIT in July 2003. |
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Troy Van
Voorhis received his Ph.D. from the University of California at
Berkeley and his B.A. in Chemistry from Rice University. He is currently
a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University. He will join the faculty
in the Department of Chemistry at MIT in July 2003. His research interests
include the development of novel ab initio techniques that make accurate
predictions about molecular systems. |
Congratulations to New MacVicar Faculty Fellow Barbara Imperiali
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The appointment of Professor Barbara
Imperiali as a MacVicar Faculty Fellow has been announced by
Provost Bob Brown. The MacVicar Faculty Fellowships were established
by MIT in 1992 to recognize outstanding contributions to undergraduate
education at MIT. The program honors the life and contributions
of the late Margaret MacVicar, who was MIT's first Dean of Undergraduate
Education. Together the Fellows form a small academy of scholars
committed to fine teaching and innovation in education.
Professor Imperiali is best known to undergradutes from her introductory
organic chemistry course, Chemistry 5.12. Professor Imperiali's
dedication is legendary, and her 5.12 lectures are described as
models of clarity and a joy to attend.
As a MacVicar Faculty Fellow, Professor Imperiali joins an elite
group of teachers and scholars at MIT. There are now 56 MacVicar
Fellows among the total of ca. 1,000 faculty at MIT. With 6 MacVicar
Fellows (Professors Ceyer, Danheiser, Imperiali, Kemp, Essigmann,
and Silbey), the Chemistry Department (one of the smaller departments
at MIT with only 29 members), along with Mechanical Engineering,
now has more MacVicar Fellows than any other department at the Institute.
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