Diana Gong (LAUFFENBURGER LAB)

Identifying Correlates of Tuberculosis Protection Mediated by BCG in Collaborative Cross Mice

Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death by an infectious agent, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis currently infects a quarter of the world’s population. The only currently approved tuberculosis vaccine, BCG, has variable protection and the mechanisms by which it provides protection are not well understood. Furthermore, typical lab strains of mice do not model the diversity of responses observed in humans. Here, we begin to identify correlates of BCG-mediated protection in a genetically diverse cohort of mice called the Collaborative Cross.

Elijah Karvelis (TIDOR LAB)

Understanding and Re-engineering Enzymes Using Molecular Dynamics

Despite decades of research, designed enzymes are often outperformed by natural enzymes. To close this gap, it is unclear whether we simply require more accurate design methods, or whether me must also improve our theoretical treatment of enzymatic catalysis. Whereas most enzyme engineering strategies focus on a few key states along the reaction, I discuss new computational methods that treat entire reactive events with atomistic detail. These methods will inform re-designed enzymes while accounting for both dynamic and entropic effects.