Alan MV West, Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Researcher, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine

University of California, San Diego

PROFILE

Protein Biochemist with extensive experience in protein expression, purification and characterization. Studied the structure and function of several different proteins employing a wide variety of biophysical and biochemical methods.

Highly motivated protein biochemist with strong publication record

Strong ability to independently develop and test structure-based hypotheses

Excellent communication skills, can interact effectively with biologists, biochemists and structural biologists.

SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES

Biochemistry

Protein expression (E. coli, mammalian cells, in vitro translation), ÄKTA protein purification systems (FPLC), analytical HPLC, Western blot, size exclusion chromatography multi-angle light scattering (SEC-MALS), fluorescence anisotropy, surface plasmon resonance (BIAcore), antibody purification

Structural Biology

X-ray crystallography, Hydrogen-Deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS), Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS), circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, negative stain electron microscopy

Molecular biology

Cloning: Gibson Assembly (isothermal reaction), ligation independent cloning (LIC), restriction enzyme digestion, site-directed mutagenesis

RNA/DNA purification, PCR, Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR, RT-qPCR), yeast two-hybrid

Cell Biology

Mammalian cell culture, transient transfection, immunofluorescent microscopy

Computational skills

Molecular visualization (Pymol, VMD), Protein structure prediction (Phyre2), Multiple sequence alignment, Statistical software (Graphpad Prism, JMP), Microsoft Office, Linux, Windows and Macintosh operating systems

EDUCATION

University of California San Diego 2010-2017

Ph.D. Biomedical Science

Tufts University, Medford, MA 2004-2008

B.S. Biochemistry

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

UC San Diego, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine 2010-Current

Ph.D. Candidate and Post-Doctoral Researcher

Principle Investigator: Dr. Kevin Corbett

Dissertation title: The Assembly and Dynamics of Hop1 and Red1 at the Meiotic Chromosome Axis

oDesigned and optimized multiple protein constructs to increase expression and stability for biochemical assays, x-ray crystallography, electron microscopy and other biophysical methods

oCharacterized multiple conformations of the Hop1 HORMA domain using structural models, hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectroscopy, and SEC-MALS to show how conformational switching within the domain determines target binding and signaling at the meiotic chromosome axis.

oInvestigated the structure and binding of the meiotic axis foundation protein Red1 and its functional homologs in several species leading to conserved model of meiotic axis assembly defined by high order oligomerization of coiled-coil domains.

Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT 2008-2010

Research Associate and Lab Manager

Principle Investigator: Dr. Paul Chang

Cloned, purified and tested reagents to study the cellular localization and function of poly(ADP-Ribose) and its polymerases during cell stress.

Affinity purified custom antibodies and determined their specificity by immunofluorescent microscopy and Western blotting.

Oversaw basic lab maintenance, inventory, safety, and the training of undergraduate researchers.

Tufts University, Department of Chemistry 2006-2008

Undergraduate Researcher

Principle Investigator: Dr. David Lee

Investigated the structure, function, and oligomerization of the metabolic hormone, Adiponectin, by SDS-PAGE, Western blotting, IEC, HPLC, and CD Spectroscopy to determine how specific mutants disrupt its formation of high molecular weight oligomers.

PUBLICATIONS

1.West,A.M.V., Komives,E.A. and Corbett,K.D. (2018) Conformational dynamics of the Hop1 HORMA domain reveal a common mechanism with the spindle checkpoint protein Mad2. Nucleic Acids Research, 46, 279–292.

2.West,A.M.V.*, Rosenberg,S.C.*, Ur,S.N., Lehmer, M.L., Ye,Q. Gotz, H., Muñoz,I., Usón, Herzog, F., Corbett, K.D. (2018) A conserved mechanism for meiotic chromosome organization through self-assembly of a filamentous chromosome axis core. (submitted for review)(*co-first authors)

BioRxiv: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/375220v1

4541 Texas Street #4

San Diego, CA 92116

802-***-****

ac7t99@r.postjobfree.com

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