New Professor:
Matt Cordes
Matthew Cordes is
a biophysical chemist who is interested in how genetic mutations
affect the three-dimensional structures of proteins. He received
his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Yale in 1994, then worked
for Robert Sauer as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department.
of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where
he changed his focus to the workings of biological molecules.
Proteins are the workhorses of the cell, carrying out a variety
of biological activities from signaling to catalysis. The structure
or architecture of a protein, also known as its fold, is the
scaffold upon which these functions are mounted. It is thought
that there are several thousand different types of protein fold
in nature, of which many hundreds are known today through the
work of structural biologists. Central to Dr. Cordes' work is
the question of how evolution produced so many distinct protein
architectures. There is presently very little experimental evidence
germane to this question, as very few mutations have been shown
to significantly alter protein structures. However, his work
on the Arc repressor protein at MIT has shown that in some cases
very simple genetic mutations are capable of radically changing
a protein's fold. Dr. Cordes now intends to study the mechanisms
by which the evolution of fold actually occurs in nature. His
approach is, first, to identify families of proteins which share
a common ancestor but which do not share a common fold. Then,
through structural and bioinformatic analysis, he reconstructs
the evolutionary process which led to the different structures.
He also uses protein design, protein engineering and random
mutation experiments to mimic structural evolution in the laboratory.
Outside of the laboratory, Matt has a fondness for traditional
American and Celtic music. He is an active bluegrass guitarist,
singer and songwriter. He has played extensively in the New
England/New York area, and in June 2000 his band toured the
Netherlands and northern Germany. Professor Cordes enjoys discussions
about the interactions between religious faith and scientific
inquiry, and is interested in issues of sustainability in energy
and agriculture. He is also an avid fly fisher and hiker.
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Retirement:
Christa Sitz
Dr. Wells, on Christa:
"The Department of
Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics has its administrative
origins in the Department of Biochemistry- started in the College
of Medicine in the summer of 1967 by three faculty members and
an administrative secretary, Christa M. Sitz. For 34 years,
Christa has looked out for the welfare of the department, its
deadline-challenged faculty and its staff, students, postdocs
and visitors. Early on she mastered the complexities of the
system and was able to guide seven department heads through
the many mazes they encountered. She came to us from Germany
where she was secretary to an army general - that explains a
lot, eh! In addition to her consummate skill in dealing with
the administration, Christa has been a compassionate advocate
for all members of the departmental community. It was Christa's
idea that the department should pay for health insurance for
graduate students and we were the first department to do so.
She has been promoting the idea of a reunion for a few years
and we will see the fruition of that dream as she retires. It
will be impossible to replace Christa, but we wish her a wonderful
retirement and hope that she is so busy that we will miss her
more than she misses us. Christa, on Christa: "Back in
1992, when our department was 25 years old, I thought it would
be really nice to have our graduates and post-docs come "back
home" to see what we were doing and the direction we were heading.
What I didn't realize was the work involved in contacting everyone.
With the development of e-mail, I was able to "get-in-touch"
with the majority of our former grads and ask them if they wanted
to come back to visit. The response was overwhelming and very
warm. I felt like I was getting presents when the response started
with "what a wonderful surprise to hear from you". The reasons
for a reunion are: to meet classmates again (or for the first
time); to form a support network and to use our department as
a "home base"; to see what we do and provide constructive criticism
for future endeavors; for our present students to see "what
a Ph.D. in Biochemistry can do for you"; and for faculty and
staff to see our dear students again. As far as my retirement
is concerned, I am really looking forward to it. I haven't had
a real vacation in 6 years and it is about time ... |
