People

Michelle E. McCully, PhD

Associate Professor, Biology

IRACDA Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California San Francisco

PhD, Biomolecular Structure & Design, University of Washington

BS, Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis

Bilal Arshadullah

Biochemistry 2024

My research will primarily focus on the expression and purification of EnHD and UVF, as well as their chimera proteins, with the goal of exploring the relationship between protein structure and thermostability. I will then use Differential Scanning Calorimetry to determine the thermal transition temperature and subsequently analyze the unfolding thermodynamics of our collected proteins.

Lindsey Crocker

Biochemistry 2024 | Minor:  Public Health

I will be investigating the binding function of our designed, synthesized proteins to DNA. I will be expressing and purifying chimeras of EnHD and UVF to use for analyzing their thermal stability properties and binding affinity through running Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assays (EMSAs). 

Advaith Harith

Chemistry, Neuroscience 2024

My work focuses on the protein Mpro, the SARS-CoV-2 protease that processes poly-proteins into separated, functional proteins. These proteins are responsible for the replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, so if Mpro is inhibited, the virus cannot replicate. Using computational techniques, I am studying the active site of Mpro.

Lauren Lee

Biology 2024 | Minor:  Biotechnology

My research investigates the thermostability and function of EnHD and UVF hybrids. In the lab, I express and purify the proteins EnHD, UVF, and several chimeras. After successfully expressing and purifying the proteins, I will analyze the thermostability and protein function through Circular Dichroism spectroscopy, T-melt assays, and Electrophoretic Mobility Shift assays 

Karishma Nijjar

Neuroscience 2025 | Minor:  Philosophy

My work will be computational research, specifically on EnHD, UVF, and their chimeras. Using a number of modeling softwares, namely Modeller and RoseTTAFold, I will model the 3D structures of these proteins and focus on generating more reliable structures for the chimeras, while maintaining the thermostability and binding affinity with DNA. 

Sam Perez

Public Health 2025 | Minor:  Chemistry

My research looks at the correlation between the structure and function of designed proteins, specifically looking at the relationship between protein cores and/or surfaces with that of resulting entropic or enthalpic properties. I will express and purify multiple chimeras of EnHD and UVF for further analysis through circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, T-melt assays, and electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs). 

Avi Subramanian

Biology 2025| Minors:  Biotechnology, Chemistry

I will be conducting computational research focusing on proteins EnHD, UVF, and their respective chimeras designed by the McCully Lab. I will be using molecular modelling networks such as RoseTTAFold and AlphaFold 2 to generate three-dimensional models of these chimeras in complex with DNA. Then, by conducting molecular dynamics simulations on these complexes, I hope to gain further understanding of the relationship between protein structure, thermostability, and binding affinity in protein-DNA complexes.