NIDHI TIBREWAL

**** ******** ****, *** *** • Los Angeles, CA 90066 • 925-***-**** • acb01s@r.postjobfree.com

EDUCATION

• 3.925 Ph.D. (Pharmaceutical Sciences) University of Kentucky,

• 83% MS (Pharmaceutical Chemistry) Banasthali Vidyapith, India

• 79% BS (Chemistry) Delhi University, India

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

University of California Los Angeles Apr 2013 - Current

Postdoctoral Researcher

Project: Mapping Protein Evolution via structural analysis of the mutants generated through directed-evolution in

collaboration with Codexis.

• Constructed expression vectors to produce soluble and functional proteins.

• Engineered wild-type protein to generate various mutants.

• Performed plate-based kinetic studies to identify the mutants with improved catalytic activity.

• Optimized protein expression and purification processes and obtained large scale production of

recombinant proteins.

• Crystallized wild-type enzyme along with various mutants to understand protein sequence-structure-

function relationships.

• Based on the structural and mechanistic basis of beneficial random mutations, the enzymes were

rationally redesigned to increase catalytic activity and stability.

• Undertook leadership role in multidisciplinary collaborations with structural biologists, and computational

chemists to optimize enzyme activity.

Project: Investigating biosynthesis of 2-aminoisobutyric acid.

• Based on the gene deletion experiments 3 crucial enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of the amino acid

were identified.

• Protein and cell-based assays were conducted to elucidate the detailed biochemical characteristics of

enzymatic mechanism.

• Conducted feeding experiments to spot the substrates.

University of Kentucky, College of Pharmacy Aug 2008 - Mar 2013

Graduate Student

NMR Facility Manager

• Maintained NMR instruments with periodic caliberation.

• Trained undergraduate and graduate students.

• Investigated gilvocarcin biosynthetic pathway for development of novel anti-cancer agents with improved

pharmaceutical profile.

• Identified and characterized three crucial downstream enzymes involved in oxidative cleavage and

methylation reactions.

• Developed in vitro biochemical assays for protein characterization and substrate screening.

• Performed kinetic analysis of the enzyme-catalyzed reactions.

• Synthesized a series of analogues of pathway intermediates for structure-activity relationship studies.

• Exploited promiscuity of the enzymes through chemo-enzymatic synthesis.

• Engineered enzymes via site-directed mutagenesis to broaden the substrate specificity.

Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow, India Jan 2006 – Jun 2006

Intern

• Synthesized a series of 2,4,6-Trisubstituted I,3,5-Triazines as anti-malarial agents.

• Characterized by means of NMR, IR, UV, and Mass Spectroscopy.

• Evaluated in vitro biological activities against Plasmodium falciparum.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

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DNA/RNA isolation, plasmid construction, PCR, RT-PCR, cloning, transformation, protein expression, protein

purification techniques such as affinity chromatography, and size exclusion chromatography, FPLC operation, gel

electrophoresis, protein quantification techniques, PAGE, Western blotting, protein crystallization, microbial

fermentation, mutagenesis, directed evolution, in vitro biochemical assay development for compound screening,

organic synthesis, chemo-enzymatic synthesis, NMR, LC-MS, GC-MS, UV-Vis, MS Excel, Word, ChemBioDraw.

INDUSTRIAL EXPERIENCE

Intern, Amgen, Thousand Oaks, CA Jun 2011– Aug 2011

• Conducted NMR experiments to characterize the chemical structure of drug metabolites and

developed NMR methods for quantification of metabolites in biological matrices.

• Validated NMR based quantification method by using Mass Spectroscopy.

• Recorded data and experimental results in compliance with cGLP/cGMP standards.

Research Associate, Jubilant Chemsys Ltd., Noida, India Jun 2006 – Apr 2007

• Engaged in the synthesis, purification and characterization of various novel heterocyclic moieties

using various name reactions.

• Worked in close collaboration with Quality Assurance and Manufacturing divisions.

PUBLICATIONS

1. Tibrewal, N.; Tang, Y. Biocatalysts for natural product biosynthesis. Annu. Rev. Chem. Biomol. Eng.

2014, In Press.

Yeo, Y.-S.; Nybo, S. E.; Chittiboyina, A. G.; Weerasooriya, A. D.; Wang, Y.-H.; Góngora-Castillo, E.;

2.

Vaillancourt, B.; Buell, C. R.; DellaPenna, D.; Celiz, M. D.; Jones, A. D.; Wurtele, E. S.; Ransom, N.;

Dudareva, N.; Shaaban, K. A.; Tibrewal, N.; Chandra, S.; Smillie, T.; Khan, I. A.; Coates, R. M.; Watt, D. S.;

Chappell, J. Functional identification of valerena-1,10-diene synthase, a terpene synthase catalyzing a unique

chemical cascade in the biosynthesis of biologically active sesquiterpenes in Valeriana officinalis. J. Biol.

Chem. 2013, 288, 3163.

3. Tibrewal, N.; Downey, T. E.; Van Lanen, S. G.; Ul Sharif, E.; O’Doherty, G. A.; Rohr, J. Roles of the

Synergistic Reductive O-Methyltransferase GilM and of O-Methyltransferase GilMT in the Gilvocarcin

Biosynthetic Pathway. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 12402.

4. Tibrewal, N.; Pahari, P.; Wang, G.; Kharel, M. K.; Morris, C.; Downey, T.; Hou, Y.; Bugni, T.S.; Rohr, J.

Baeyer-Villiger C-C bond cleavage reaction in gilvocarcin and jadomycin biosynthesis. J. Am. Chem.

Soc., 2012, 134, 18181.

5. Britson, S. B.; Chi, X.; Nonaka, K.; Spork, A. P.; Tibrewal, N.; Goswami, A.; Pahari, P.; Ducho, C.; Rohr,

J.; Van Lanen, S. G. Amalgamation of Nucleosides and Amino Acids in Antibiotic Biosynthesis: Discovery of

an L-Threonine:Uridine-5'-Aldehyde Transaldolase. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2012, 134, 18514.

6. Kharel, M. K.; Pahari, P.; Shepherd, M. D.; Tibrewal, N.; Nybo, S. E.; Shaaban, K. A.; Rohr, J.

Angucyclines: Biosynthesis, mode-of-action, new natural products, and synthesis. Nat. Prod. Rep. 2012, 29,

264.

7. Chi, X.; Nonaka, K.; Tibrewal, N.; Baba, S.; Funabashi, M.; Van Lanen, S. G. The muraminomicin

biosynthetic gene cluster and enzymatic formation of the 2-deoxyaminoribosyl appendage. 2012,

MedChemComm. (Doi: 10.1039/C2MD20245J).

8. Tibrewal, N. and Elliott, G. I. Evaluation of hadacidin analogues . Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2011, 21(1),

517.

PRESENTATIONS

1. Nidhi Tibrewal, Theresa Downey and Jürgen Rohr "Synergistic reductive methyltransferase GilM and it

crucial role in gilvocarcin biosynthetic pathway" ICNPR 2012, NYC (Poster)

2. Nidhi Tibrewal and Raju Subramanian "Development of NMR Methods for Quantitation of Drug

Metabolites" Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism Symposium 2011, Amgen, California (Poster)

3. Nidhi Tibrewal and Gregory I. Elliott "Synthesis and Evaluation of Hadacidin Analogues" 240th ACS

National Meeting, 2011, Boston, MA (Oral presentation)

4. Nidhi Tibrewal and Gregory I. Elliott "Synthesis and Evaluation of Hadacidin Analogues" Markey Cancer

Center Research Day 2010, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (Poster)

5. Nidhi Tibrewal and Prem M. Chauhan "Design and synthesis of 2,4,6-Trisubstituted I,3,5-Triazines as

anti-malarial agents" 10th International Conference of the Indian Society of Chemists and Biologists on Drug

Discovery: Challenges and Perspectives 2006, CDRI, Lucknow, India (Poster)

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AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS

• Graduate School Academic Year Fellowship,

University of Kentucky, 2011-2012

• Certificate for Academic Proficiency,

Banasthali Vidyapith, 2006

• Neeta Bhattacharya Memorial Prize, Delhi University, 2003

P ROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

American Chemical Society (ACS)

American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS)

The American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP)

The Protein Society

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