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Springside School 8000 Cherokee Street Philadelphia, PA 19118 www.springside.org

Springside School

Teacher Workshop:Antibiotics, human disease, and protein engineering:

New insights into protein synthesisTuesdayMay 5 4:15 to 5:15 pm

Dr. Koehrers workshop will focus on many of herresearch interests described below, with cutting-edgeapplications for their use in biology, chemistry, and related courses.

2009 KlecKner ScientiSt in reSidence

Dr. Caroline KoehrerDepartment of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Koehrer was born and raised in Austria, where she attended the University of Innsbruck and received a master sdegree and Ph.D. in Microbiology. In 1997, she joined Professor RajBhandarys lab in the Department of Biology at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology as a postdoctoral associate and as a a research scientist since 2002. Her courseswith MIT students include Antibiotics, Toxins, Protein Engineering and the Ribosome, and she has been a popular in-structor at MITs Summer Science and Engineering Program for Teachers.

My research focuses on various aspects of protein synthesis, to deepen our basic understanding of how proteins are madein all living cells from bacteria to humans and to apply this knowledge to innovative new techniques of protein engineer-ing and drug design. It has always been my goal to combine basic research with its practical application in medicine andbiotechnology. Most recently, I edited a book entitledProtein Engineeringwhich was released at the end of last year.

Research Interests Development of methods for site-specic insertion of amino acid analogues into proteins in prokaryotic and eukaryoticsystems: This adds a new dimension to studies of protein structure, function, protein-protein interactions and protein lo-calization and provides a powerful tool for the design of proteins with novel chemical and biological properties (proteinengineering). Studies on translation in bacteria, archaea and eukaryotic organism with a particular focus on the roleof the transfer RNA (tRNA). Development of suppressor tRNA-mediated therapy: Many human diseases are causedby nonsense mutations that lead to the generation of truncated, functionally inactive or less active proteins. Examples areCystic Fibrosis and Muscular Dystrophy. We are investigating the possibility of using suppressor tRNAs in combinationwith other treatments to restore synthesis of full-length protein. Identication of new antibacterial drug targets.