Research Interests

RNA is an exceptionally versatile biological macromolecule, in turn acting as an information carrier, genome, catalyst, regulator of gene expression, structural scaffold, and much more. Furthermore, RNA provides a highly tunable scaffold that can be used to build sensors and nanostructures. My research will focus on the development and application of spectroscopic methods to address questions regarding RNA structure and dynamics. Crystal structures and cryo-electron microscopy have provided high-resolution snapshots of many different RNA species, and we seek to complement those studies by using novel optical spectroscopy methods to interrogate RNA under native conditions. We are particularly interested in RNAs whose biological functions depend directly on their abilities to fold into and interconvert between specific structures. Our initial studies will focus on riboswitches, which are bacterial sensor RNAs that regulate gene expression by re-folding upon binding of a ligand, and on the spliceosome, which catalyzes the reaction of pre-messenger RNA splicing, a key step in gene expression in eukaryotes. In the case of riboswitches, the structure of the folded RNA confers sensitivity to its ligand, and in the case of splicing, the structure of the pre-mRNA is one of many factors that determines the location at which splicing occurs and its efficiency.