Biochemistry News

Biochemistry welcomed Blerta Xhemalçe, PhD, September 2024 as an Associate Professor of Biochemistry.

Dr. Xhemalçe was previously an Associate Professor of Molecular Biosciences at the University of Texas at Austin. Her new lab, located on the 4^th floor of the Rollins Research Center, aims to decipher how epigenetic modifications regulate the expression of genetic information from DNA to RNA to proteins, with a particular focus on RNA modification pathways.

Xu Liu, PhD, has been promoted to Assistant Professor Biochemistry and started his own independent research lab. Prior to his promotion Dr. Liu was part of the Ortland Lab group. 

The Liu Lab is an interdisciplinary research group dedicated to exploring the structure-dynamics-function relationship of steroid receptor-ligand interactions. By integrating structural biology, biophysical chemistry, molecular pharmacology, and cellular and chemical biology methods, our work aims to achieve a molecular-level understanding of how these interactions regulate transcriptional activities of steroid receptors, which play crucial roles in metabolism, development, stress and inflammatory responses.

Biochemistry welcomed Diego Sastre, PhD, as Assistant Professor in the Sundberg Lab group. He is a molecular biologist using molecular biophysics, structural biology, glycobiology, bioinformatics, and protein engineering to define the molecular bases of infectious diseases. Dr. Sastre's primary research interests include studying the mechanisms of IgG-specific enzymes, antibody effector functions, and the roles of enzymes and lectins in glycan metabolism within the gut microbiome. His mission is to make fundamental discoveries and translate those findings into new therapeutical treatments for bacterial and viral infections, chronic inflammatory diseases, autoimmunity, and cancer.

Biochemistry welcomed John Calvert, PhD, in July 2024 as a secondary faculty member of Biochemistry. Dr. Calvert is Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery, Emory School of Medicine. Dr. Calvert will be collaborating with Dr. Eric Ortlund, Professor and Vice Chair of Biochemistry.

Drs. Calvert and Ortlund have an active collaboration centered on the design and testing of compounds aimed at targeting the orphan nuclear receptor, LRH-1, in the settings of diabetes and ulcerative colitis. In addition, they have a collaborative project centered on understanding the regulating of the hydrogen sulfide producing enzyme, cystathionase. These collaborative studies balance Dr. Ortlund’s expertise in structural biology, biophysics and biochemistry with Dr. Calvert’s expertise in mouse models of metabolism, cell culture systems and physiology.

Dr. Calvert's laboratory is focused on determining different mechanisms of cardioprotection in the setting of acute myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury and heart failure. His primary projects are concerned with understanding the cardio-restorative potential of hydrogen sulfide for heart failure patients, evaluating the cardioprotective capabilities of nitric oxide, and examining the signaling mechanisms of exercise that can strengthen the heart against injury, disease, or malfunction.

Since he established his independent laboratory in 2008, grant awards from such organizations as the National Institutes of Health and the American Diabetes Association have supported Dr. Calvert's research, and his findings have been published in such high impact journals as Circulation, Circulation Research, and Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.

Dr. Calvert received his PhD in Physiology at Loma Linda University, and conducted a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular cardiology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Elizabeth (Lizzy) Draganova, PhD, Assistant Professor in Biochemistry, received the Emory School of Medicine Hidden Gem Award for 2024.

Yunrong Gao, PhD, Sara Espinosa, and Bo Liang, PhD, published a paper, "In Vitro higher-order oligomeric assembly of the respiratory syncytial virus M2-1 protein with longer RNAs," in the Journal of Virology.

The Liang lab welcomed three new people: Yuqing Wang, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow; Ashley Kim, Research Specialist; and Julia Hunt, Research Specialist. 

Dr. Xu Liu, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, received an NIH grant, "Multifaceted Regulation of Mineralocorticoid Receptor Transcriptional Activities."