TEACHING AND MENTORING

Biochemistry 961: Dynamics and Interactions of Proteins and Nucleic Acids, Fall 07 2 lectures, 2 laboratory sessions, and 2 homework assignments. Designed lecture material about protein flexibility and protein-protein docking; developed tutorials to teach the use of the flexibility analysis software First/ProFlex, the conformational sampling tools ROCK and FRODA, protein-protein interface prediction using various web servers and docking with ZDOCK.
Quantitative Biology 826: Introduction to Quantitative Biology Techniques, Summer 07. Developing and teaching the computational half of the one-week, summer workshop that includes biology lab experiments, computer lab projects, and evening discussions that integrate aspects of interdisciplinary research. This course will be part of the core requirement for Quantitative Biology joint dual-degree Ph.D students.
Biochemistry 495: Senior Seminar, Spring 07 1 lecture, 1 set of homework assignments. Tutored 3 students in preparing presentations for the class.
Biochemistry 961: Concepts in Protein Structure Analysis and Modeling, Fall 06 2 lectures, 2 laboratory sessions, and 1 homework assignment. Designed lecture material; developed tutorial to teach the use of the molecular visualization software PyMol and laboratory exercise for normal mode analysis of protein dynamics.

Marci Rose Baranski, Professorial Assistant and Biochemistry Major, worked on computational screening to identify new inhibitors for the enzyme urokinase plasminogen activator, a target for cancer therapy. She presented a poster about this work at the 2007 University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum. She also studied the effect of crystal freezing and small molecule binding on the internal cavity size of lipoxygenase by computational docking. She is a co-author of the paper published about this work in the journal Acta Crystallographica D (2006).
Radhika Dinesh Bhavsar, LBS Physiology Major, worked on a project to asses backbone flexibility changes upon protein-protein association.
Noah Choi, Biochemistry and Biotechnology Major, works on identifying and classifying side-chain conformational changes at protein-protein interfaces. He presented a poster about his work at the 2007 University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum.
Xiaomeng (Ellen) He, LBS, Professorial Assistant, worked on identifying databases containing natural compounds and preparing them for computational screening.
Zach Jarou, Physiology Major, works on improving the prediction of the correct docked ligand orientation.
David Jin Lee, LBS Physiology Major, worked on improving the prediction of the correct docked ligand orientation using a statistical method.
Joshua Mackaluso, Professorial Assistant, Biochemistry and Biotechnology Major, works on discovering non-covalent bond conservation patterns across multiple crystal structures to develop an algorithm for protein ensemble generation. He presented a poster about his work at the 2007 University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum.
Anjali Rohatgi, LBS Biochemistry Major and Goldwater Scholar. I co-mentored Anjali with Leslie Kuhn while she worked on identifying novel inhibitors for thrombin by computational screening and testing the binding properties of the identified molecules experimentally. A manuscript describing this work is being submitted to the Journal of Computer Aided Molecular Design with Anjali as a co-author.
Woo Jung Moon, Osteopathic Medicine – Ph.D. student. I co-mentored Woo with Zachary Burton in studying the dynamics and flexibility of RNA polymerase II using computational methods.

Michigan State University 2001 - 2004

Biochemistry 461 and 462: Biochemistry I and II, Fall 2001, Spring 2002
Held weekly recitations summarizing the week’s material, answering questions and solving problems; proctored exams, graded assay questions on exams.

As a senior graduate student and later a postdoctoral fellow in the group of Leslie Kuhn, trained and mentored graduate and undergraduate students in elements of proteins structures, computational docking and screening, using molecular visualization programs, becoming familiar with the unix operating system. Supervised the laboratory personnel while Professor Kuhn was on sabbatical in 2002.
Students mentored: Sameer Arora – graduate student; Kanchan Champhekar – graduate rotation student; Srividhya Kidambi – graduate rotation student; Rajesh Korde – graduate student; Soledad Quiroz – graduate rotation student; Erica Scheller – undergraduate research fellow; Nan Song – graduate rotation student; Chetan Sukuru – graduate student

Kansas State University 1997 - 1999

Biology 198: Principles of Biology, Fall 1997 and Spring 1998 1 lecture; participated in lectures and laboratory sessions throughout both semesters to answer questions, help the students with performing the wet lab and computer-based exercises; proctored exams; held help sessions.
Biochemistry 265: Introductory Organic and Biochemistry, Summer 1998, Fall 1998, Spring 1999. Conducted six hours of laboratory exercises per week throughout the semesters, grading assignments, proctoring exams. Developed the laboratory protocol for protein electrophoresis.

Ady Endre High School, Oradea, Romania 1984 - 1986

Classical mechanics, thermodynamics, electricity, optics in grades 9-12 approximately 25 contact hours per week.

Served as advisor for 30 students throughout grades 9 and 10. Organized extracurricular activities and help sessions, held parent-teacher conferences, made home visits to problem students. Tutored students for college entrance examinations.

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

Working with Claire Vieille from the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department under the direction of Diane Ebert-May from the Department of Plant Biology on developing the material for, organize and run a Summer Faculty Institute on Quantitative Biology Graduate Training at MSU during the summer of 2008. This workshop will emphasize development of interdisciplinary learning modules, instructional strategies, and assessment. In preparation for this workshop, I will participate in the week-long National Academies Summer Institute (SI), at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in June, 2007.

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