PhD, Medical Sciences, University of South Florida*, 2015
MS, Medical Science, University of South Florida, 2008
BS, Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida, 2007
Research Interests
Our lab focuses on structure based drug design through the use of X-ray crystallography and molecular docking.
My research is focused on discovering novel inhibitors of the protein monofunctional transglycosylase (MTG). MTG catalyzes the second to last step of bacterial cell wall formation and has only one known inhibitor, but unfortunately it is ineffective in humans. By combining fragment based molecular docking with protein X-ray crystallography I hope to discover novel inhibitors against MTG and other transglycosylases involved in bacterial cell wall formation. These novel inhibitors could lead to a new class of antibiotic that would ultimately be effective against bacteria that are resistant to many currently available drugs.
