Dr. Graeme Conn joined the Department of Biochemistry as Associate Professor of Biochemistry in September 2008. Dr. Conn received his B.Sc. and Ph.D. at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and followed this with postdoctoral research as a Wellcome Trust International Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. Dr. Conn comes to Emory following his most recent appointment at the University of Manchester, where he was initially a Wellcome Trust Independent Research Fellow, then Lecturer (equivalent to an Assistant Professor) and, most recently, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in the Faculty of Life Sciences. Dr. Conn’s laboratory uses a multidisciplinary approach to study the structures, interactions and functions of biomedically important RNA and protein molecules.
One of Dr. Conn's current research programs aims to determine in molecular detail the basis of bacterial resistance to ribosome-targeting antibiotics that arises through the action of ribosomal RNA methyltransferase enzymes. The goal here is to determine the structures of these enzymes and their complexes with target molecules, in order to dissect their substrate recognition and catalytic mechanisms and ultimately provide a platform for development of specific inhibitors.
A second project in the Conn laboratory focuses on the regulation of protein synthesis by the double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase PKR (sometimes referred to as the ‘anti-viral kinase’). Examples of both PKR inhibitor and activator RNAs, such as viral non-coding RNAs and structured cellular activator RNAs, are being investigated to understand their interaction with PKR and how they exert their different effects on this important protein.
Finally, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Maryland, the Conn laboratory is investigating the structure, ligand-selectivity properties and mechanisms of allosteric modulation of G protein-coupled receptors that form the mammalian sweet taste receptor.
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