Dartmouth Events

Engineering Iron Enzymes to Reprogram Biological Signaling and Chemical Catalysis

Bio: Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Ambika completed her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2016 focusing on structure-function relations of metalloenzymes involved in respiration and denitrification processes. Ambika’s postdoctoral work at University of California, San Francisco focused on understanding structural basis of protein-protein interactions in an enzymatic cancer drug target. In 2018, Ambika started her independent career at the University of Minnesota. She leads the Bhagi-Damodaran lab which aims to change the landscape of metalloenzymes towards sustainable catalysis and new therapeutics. Throughout her career, Ambika has received numerous awards. Most notable amongst them are the Young Investigator Award from American Chemical Society, NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein postdoctoral fellowship, Faculty for the future award from Schlumberger foundation, NIH MIRA award, NSF CAREER Award, 3M NTF Award, Cottrell Scholar Award, and Mcknight Land-Grant Professorship.

Abstract: From respiration to nitrogen fixation, iron containing enzymes drive key biological processes in all forms of life. Bhagi-Damodaran lab seeks to uncover the structural and mechanistic basis of iron enzyme function, and design small-molecule and computational protein design approaches to engineer their biological activity. Such enzyme engineering studies, while fundamentally relevant to the fields of biological and inorganic chemistry, are posed to have significant implications on biological redox signaling and chemical catalysis. In this talk, Prof. Bhagi-Damodaran will discuss her lab’s research towards (A) reprograming non-heme iron enzyme driven oxygen signaling as a mechanism to target chemo-resistance in cancer cells, and (B) developing non-heme iron enzyme based bio-catalysts that enable direct and modular C-H functionalization reactions. The research talk will be of broad interests to Biological, Inorganic, Computational, and Inorganic Chemists.

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https://dartmouth.zoom.us/s/96492319907
Meeting ID: 964 9231 9907
Passcode: 901115