Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine,1994-1999. Appointed to UC-Davis faculty 1999. We are interested in both fundamental and applied aspects of enzyme reaction mechanisms.
Enzymes can catalyze reactions by enormous factors.
For example, one of the enzymes our laboratory studies, an amino acid decarboxylase, is the best known biological catalyst. The sources of the great catalytic powers of enzymes are generally understood in qualitative terms. A quantitative understanding of these catalytic tools is not available and is one of the goals of our research program. On the applied side, enzymes are frequently the targets of pharmaceuticals. We are examining the mechanisms of enzymes that are promising drug targets with the ultimate goal of developing lead compounds for pharmaceutical development.