Inflammation-related protein and DNA damage. The overall goal of my research is to understand the altering effects of infection and inflammation on the hepatic toxicity of environmental chemicals. Infectious agents that influence liver function can alter the biological processing of many foreign chemicals. These perturbations to liver function may influence an individual's susceptibility to environmental exposures. Using mass spectrometry as research tool, I am developing analytical methods and proteomics techniques to uncover protein targets and modified-amino acids associated with oxidative damage and inflammation. I am also performing metabolite identification and clearance analyses to monitor the biological processing of environmental chemicals. Additionally, I am investigating the kinetic and thermodynamic equilibria of protein S-nitrosation reactions (posttranslational modification of nitric oxide to cysteine residues) to better understand intracellular regulatory mechanisms of nitric oxide signaling.

Charlie earned his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota in 2000, where he studied nicotine metabolism in the Laboratory of Professor Sharon Murphy. He then worked for three years in the Department of Drug Metabolism at Pha,rmacia and Upjohn (and Pfizer). He then moved on to graduate training at Vanderbilt University in the Laboratory of Professor Larry Marnett receiving his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 2008. His dissertation research focused on the metabolic stability of endogenously-formed DNA adducts derived from oxidative damage to lipids and DNA. He joined the Tannenbaum laboratory as a postdoctoral associate in the summer of 2008 and began studies on the development of biomarkers associated with inflammatory bowel disease. As a postdoc, Charlie was previously supported by the MIT-Merck Fellowship, and is currently supported by an NIH Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (K99ES022639).

Click here to watch Charlie's capillary-cutting video.
And here to watch his capillary-column-packing video.

email Charlie.