Martin Caffrey developed an interest in the structure and function of membranes
and membrane components during the course of his masters and doctoral studies in
the Biochemistry Department at Cornell University. One area of current activity in his lab
concerns the crystallization of membrane proteins using lipidic mesophases.Another takes a rational design approach to
lipid function as in transport and controlled release applications. His lab hosts the Lipid Data Bank (http://www.ldb.chemistry.ohio-state.edu),
a web-based relational database of lipid phase properties, miscibility, and
chemical structure. He is in the process
of setting up a research center focusing on membrane protein structure and
function as a chaired Professor of Membrane Structural Biology at the University
of Limerick, Ireland. He continues to
run a group in the Chemistry Department at The Ohio State University where he
holds an adjunct professor position.