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May 24, 2007
Dr. Michael Malkowski, Research Scientist, and Project Manager, Center for High-Throughput Structural Biology, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, 5-24-07
Dr. Michael G. Malkowski received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI, and his B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Detroit. The Malkowski laboratory focuses on crystallographic characterization and functional analysis of integral membrane enzymes involved in lipid metabolism; fatty acid desaturation; and enzymatic mechanisms of fatty acid oxygenation.
Dr. Malkowski is also the Project Manager and a co-PI for the Center for High-Throughput Structural Biology (CHTSB), housed at HWI, where he is involved in the development of tools for high-throughput characterization of membrane proteins. The CHTSB is one of six specialized research centers established nationally through the Protein Structure Initiative within the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the NIH.
The Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute (HWI) is an independent, not-for-profit, biomedical research facility located in the heart of downtown Buffalo's medical campus. For half a century, HWI scientists have been committed to improving human health through study, at a molecular level, of the causes and potential cures of many diseases. In contrast to clinical research, the focus of Hauptman-Woodward’s basic research is to determine the structures of individual substances such as proteins that play a role in the development of specific diseases. This research explores questions like the following: What is the three-dimensional shape of a particular protein molecule? How and with what does this protein interact? What controls these interactions? What structural alterations lead to the development of disease?
Working under the leadership of Nobel Laureate Herbert Hauptman, HWI scientists use the techniques of molecular biology, biochemistry, and crystallography to answer these questions. The results of their investigations provide the starting point for better drug design. In addition, other research on-going at HWI seeks to improve the methods of crystallization and data analysis used for molecular structure determination by scientists worldwide.
Posted by David Lemberg at May 24, 2007 08:38 AM Return to SCIENCE AND SOCIETY home page