Teaching

Integrated Program in Biochemistry Graduate Program 

This course is required for first semester IPiB graduate students. Topics covered include protein structure and folding, protein dynamics, biological catalysis, membrane structure and assembly, nucleic acid structure and folding, and bioenergetics. Each topic includes discussion of the primary literature, hypothesis generation, experimental design, data analysis and interpretation underlying the facts in the textbook. The goal is to help students transition from undergraduate consumers of knowledge to graduate students and future independent scientists who will discover and add new knowledge.

Integrated Program in Biochemistry Graduate Program 

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy can be used in multiple applications, including materials sciences and biochemical research. This course focuses on the tools and methods by which biochemists use NMR to understand protein structure, stability, and dynamics.

Katie teaches the NMR relaxation, dynamic processes, and experimental methods portions of this course.

Integrated Program in Biochemistry Graduate Program 

This course is designed to introduce students to written and visual communication of biochemical research, both to other scientists and to general audiences. It includes how to recognize and adapt work to different audiences; how to construct a scientific argument and the different strategies used for research reports, reviews; and proposals; and how to create figures and posters that clearly convey scientific data and concepts. It also introduces students to the peer review process and revision of scientific writing. This course has an intensive writing component, requiring students to produce multiple written and visual documents on the topic of their thesis research. It is required of 2nd year IPiB students.

Integrated Program in Biochemistry Graduate Program 

Membrane proteins comprise over a fourth of proteins encoded in any given genome, providing many vital functions to all cells. For example, ion channels and pumps modulate the membrane potential and help conduct information via nerves and other long distance conducting tissue. Transporters mediate the uptake and secretion of molecules. Receptors, such as G protein coupled receptors and receptor protein kinases, transfer information about the environment to the inside of the cell Membrane proteins also contribute to the shape of the cell, the structure of the membrane and a myriad of other functions. This seminar course addresses structure/function relationships for this critical class of proteins, addressing questions such as “how do membrane proteins fold?”, “how do certain important classes of membrane proteins work?”, “what are the challenges in studying membrane proteins” and “what methods are available for studying their biophysical properties?”