Expert Details
Biochemistry, Cell Biology
ID: 108471
Oklahoma, USA
Expert has been directing a research program characterizing two liver specific membrane receptors involved in receptor mediated endocytosis and the clearance of several different carbohydrate-containing molecules. He has extensive experience characterizing the specificity and affinity of receptor interactions and subsequent internalization of receptor-ligand complexes. He is also familiar with characterizing the subunit composition of receptors as well as their purification, characterization, and cloning at the molecular level. Additionally, he is knowledgeable of site-directed mutagenesis approaches to studying the structure-function of receptors reconstituted in transfected cells.
These areas are essentially identical and represent expertise that Expert has developed and strengthened in his laboratory research after his doctoral work. Many of his publications can be classified in this area. He has regularly attended and presented his research at the annual national meetings of the American Society for Cell Biology. Expert's laboratory has used a wide range of techniques in this area. These include electron microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, tissue (cell) culture, and liver cell preparation.
Expert is an established expert in the field of receptor mediated endocytosis and has been publishing actively on this process as well as receptor characterization since 1980. He has had continuous NIH supported funding since 1979 for projects investigating the mechanisms controlling receptor mediated endocytosis and receptor recycling. A high percentage of his publications have dealt with these topics.
A significant portion of Expert's research has been devoted to biochemistry and the synthesis and degradation of hyaluronic acid. His group was the first in the world to clone the gene for the enzyme that allows Group A streptococcal bacteria to synthesize hyaluronic acid. They also have experience in studies dealing with the interaction between hyaluronic acid and fibrinogen and its effect on blood clotting, and they are studying other hyaluronic acid binding proteins and receptors that are physiologically significant. For example, the group is purifying and cloning a liver specific receptor that removes circulating hyaluronic acid from the blood. They also have expertise with unique chemical modifications of hyaluronic acid that allow them to make unusual and extremely useful probes to study its metabolism and interactions with cells.
A small fraction of Expert's research effort and publications over the last 10 years has dealt with cell surface interactions. This has involved the preparation of chemically defined cell culture substrata and the examination of the mechanism by which cells can adhere to and spread on them.
Expert is presently a consultant for a new biotechnology company.He has been a Teltech consultant since 1986 and has participated in more than 40 client events.
Education
Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
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Year: 1975 | Degree: Ph.D. | Subject: Biochemistry | Institution: The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
Year: 1969 | Degree: M.A | Subject: Biochemistry | Institution: The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
Year: 1968 | Degree: B.A. | Subject: Chemistry | Institution: Cornell University |
Work History
Years | Employer | Title | Department |
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Years: 1994 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: Professor & Chairman | Department: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology |
Responsibilities:Expert is the head of a basic science department with 22 faculty and 120 employees. He has also directed his own laboratory and research program funded by the NIH for over 22 years. In addition, he co-founded a biotechnology company in 2000, based in part on patents and intellectual property he developed. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1978 to 1994 | Employer: University of Texas | Title: Professor | Department: Human Biological Chemistry & Genetics |
Responsibilities:Expert joined the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston as an Assistant Professor in 1978 and became a Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology in 1987. |
Career Accomplishments
Associations / Societies |
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Expert is an active member of the American Chemical Society, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Academy of Sciences, the American Society for Cell Biology, as well as many other professional societies. |
Professional Appointments |
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He is an Editorial Board member for the Journal of Biological Chemistry and is also a grant reviewer for the American Cancer Society, NSF, USDA, and the NIH. Expert was the recipient of a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Cancer Institute. |
Publications and Patents Summary |
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He has published and presented more than 160 technical papers and is a manuscript reviewer for a number of technical journals, including Biochemistry, the Journal of Cell Biology, the International Journal of Cancer, and the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Additionally, Expert currently has five U.S. patents on the covalent immobilization of biomolecules on an inert chemically defined matrix and on the production of hyaluronan. |
Additional Experience
Training / Seminars |
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Expert presents three to five seminars per year at universities and national or international meetings. |
Vendor Selection |
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He has experience locating vendors of biochemical/cell biology reagents and equipment. |
Other Relevant Experience |
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Expert has made substantial research contributions in several fields, including the discoveries of multiple coated pit pathways for receptor-mediated endocytosis and of the enzyme responsible for hyaluronan biosynthesis. He has had a long-standing interest in the biochemistry and the biology of hyaluronan. His group was the first to identify and isolate the gene for hyaluronan synthase. Expert's laboratory also developed the use of structurally defined iodinated hyaluronan oligosaccharides of high specific radioactivity to detect and to study specific hyaluronan receptors and binding proteins. This approach has recently enabled his laboratory to purify the liver endothelial cell receptor that removes circulating hyaluronan fragments from the blood by receptor-mediated endocytosis. |
Fields of Expertise
biochemistry, biochemical research, receptor biochemistry, cell (biology), cell physiology, endocytosis, hyaluronic acid, cell surface interaction, protein-protein crosslinking, United States patent, enzyme inactivation, cell affinity chromatography, protein characterization, protein isolation, protein concentration process, enzyme purification, protein biochemistry, galactose, chemical precipitation process, cellular regulation, acrylic compound, crosslinking agent, alcohol compound, fibrin, fibrinogen, chemical analysis sedimentation technique, dialysis, cell membrane, biologic cellular component, biopolymer, enzyme kinetics, protein chemistry, carbohydrate, protein, enzyme, receptor-mediated endocytosis, radioactive labeling, qualitative biochemistry, protein purification, polysaccharide, polyacrylamide, natural polymer, molecular biology, liquid chromatography, glycoprotein, gel electrophoresis, chemical analysis extraction, enzymology, enzyme production, endogenous substance receptor, electrophoresis, cloning technique, chromatography, centrifugation, cellular signal transduction, cell anatomy, biocompatible polymer, biocompatible material, bacterium, antibody production, amine, amide, aldehyde, affinity chromatography, acrylic polymerization, acrylic acid, acrylate