My field of research interest is a fast developing filed of bioinorganic chemistry, an interface of chemical, physical and computational methods applied to structural and functional properties of metal-containing proteins and enzymes. My work for past few years focused primarily on characterization of copper-containing enzyme lysyl oxidase and on understanding a role that copper ion may have in this system. Little is known about the role of copper in the catalytic mechanism of this enzyme, and it has been debated whether its function is catalytic or structural. There is essentially no information available concerning specific amino acids residues which might function in lysyl oxidase catalysis and inhibition. We are currently rigorously characterize the copper- binding site of this intruguing enzyme by kinetic, spectroscopic, and structural methods in order to elucidate its properties. I believe that the ability to work individually with students on a research project is an invaluable part of undergraduate science education, and I am especially proud to have all this accomplished when working with Emmanuel College students who have undying enthusiasm and dedication for these challenging projects and always go far beyond what you might expect from undergraduate students.
