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NMR & Ligand-Macromolecule Interactions
Research Summary
Geoffrey Mueller, Ph.D., leads the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Group and serves as Director of the NIEHS NMR Research Core Facility. Mueller does independent research on the molecular determinants of allergic disease. Primarily, the research is focused on allergens, which stimulate the symptoms of allergic disease. The goals of the research are:
- To better understand why certain proteins are allergens
- To improve allergen exposure measurements
- To search for predictive components of allergy therapy
- To better diagnosis cross-reactivity among allergens
- To design novel immunotherapeutics
The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Group performs fundamental research on biological systems aimed at providing insight into the molecular mechanisms that underlie problems of environmental concern. As part of the Genome Integrity and Structural Biology Laboratory, our primary focus has been the evaluation of structural, conformational and dynamic responses of proteins to substrates, cofactors, allosteric effectors, other proteins, putative environmental toxins, nucleic acids, etc. In addition, we are interested in various aspects of allergic disease including the characterization of allergens and metabolomic analyses of pollens.
Major areas of research:
- DNA repair complexes
- HIV reverse transcriptase
- Allergic Disease and Allergens
Current projects:
- Structural and dynamic characterization of enzymes involved in DNA polymerization
- Nuclear localization signals of DNA repair enzymes
- Accessory proteins in DNA repair
- Studies or HIV reverse transcriptase
- Characterization of Allergens
- Metabolomic analyses of pollens
Mueller received his Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of Virginia in 1998. He trained as a postdoctoral fellow with Lewis Kay, Ph.D., and Julie Forman-Kay, Ph.D., at the University of Toronto until 2001, researching the application of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). London recruited Mueller to join the NMR group as a Staff Scientist. In 2020, Mueller became the Director of the NMR Research Core Facility and head of the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Group.
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