Dr.
Larry DeLucas
Dr. DeLucas is the Director of the Center for Biophysical Sciences and
Engineering (CBSE) and the Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center X-ray
Crystallography Core Facility at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).
His background includes former Chief Scientist for the International Space
Station and payload specialist on the Space Shuttle Columbia, STS-50, involving
microgravity research for materials processing and fluid dynamics. He has
published over 120 research articles in various scientific journals,
co-authored two books on protein crystal growth and is an inventor on 14
patents mainly involving protein crystal growth. The Center is a member of the
Southeast Collaboratory for Structural Genomics and the Southeast Collaborative
Access Team.
Dr. DeLucas' research focuses on structure based drug discovery with
x-ray crystallography in the fields of Genomics and Proteomics. His
achievements include the development and integration of innovative technologies
for drug discovery platforms benefiting both academic, governmental, and
industrial collaborations.
Dr.
Nico Mertens
Dr. Mertens obtained his PhD in Biotechnology from the University of
Ghent in 1996 on the subject of “Optimization of heterologeous gene expression
in Escherichia coli” in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology headed by Dr.
Walter Fiers. He then joined the Department of Biomedical Research (DMBR) at
the Flanders Institute of Biotechnology (VIB) in Ghent and initiated a project
concerning the use of bispecific antibodies in cancer immunotherapy with Dr.
Johan Grooten. Also during this period, he organized heterologeous gene
expression technology and protein production in a departmental core facility
offering gene expression, protein production and purification services. Due to
this expertise, he maintained a durable relationship with biotech companies
interested in this field and has a track record of industrial collaborations.
From 2001, Dr. Mertens was appointed Visiting Professor at the University of
Ghent. In 2002, Dr. Mertens obtained his postgraduate master in industrial
business administration from EMS, Brussels, majoring in project management. He
became Principle Investigator at VIB, leading the Molecular Immunobiotechnology
unit.
Dr.
Bernard Rupp
Dr. Bernhard Rupp leads the Macromolecular Crystallography
and Structural Genomics group of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,
University of California, Livermore, CA, and established the high throughput
crystallization facility of the TB Structural Consortium, one of the nine
NIH-NIGMS funded Protein Structure Initiatives (PSI).
Prior to establishing the macromolecular crystallography facility at LLNL in
1993, Dr. Rupp has held post doctoral and research scientist positions in the
USA, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Israel, where he has acquired a broad
background in a wide range of crystallographic techniques and structural
chemistry and biology. He holds a habilitation (venia docendi) and is adjunct
Professor for Molecular Structural Biology at the University of Vienna,
Austria.
Dr Rupp’s research interests include high throughput crystallography,
technology development, structure guided drug design, and structural
bioinformatics. In addition to technology development and discovery driven
research, he has worked on neurotoxins, superantigens, and mycobacterium
tuberculosis drug target structures. http://www-structure.llnl.gov
Dr.
Lance Stewart
Lance is responsible for all operations,
research, and business development for deCODE 's biostructures group located in
Bainbridge Island, WA. He oversees the structural biology group and the
research services that they perform. Lance earned his B.Sc. in Biology from
McMaster University in 1987 and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Virology from
Cornell University in 1992.He served as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Research
Assistant Professor in the Departments of Microbiology and Biological Structure
at the University of Washington from 1992 to 1997 where he was trained in the
field of protein X-ray crystallography and used these methods to elucidate the
structure of human topoisomerase I (topo I). In 1997, Lance co-founded Emerald
BioStructures, Inc. where he served as President until 2002 when the company
was acquired by deCODE genetics,Inc. through its acquisition of MediChem Life
Sciences. Lance, went on to earn his M.B.A. from the University of Washington
in 2003. He has received five Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program
grants from the National Institutes of Health for the development of new
anticancer agents that target topo I, and protein crystallization technologies
with emphasis on membrane proteins.