In this award, supported by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division and the Molecular Biophysics Program of the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, Prof. Sean Decatur of Mt. Holyoke College will conduct research on the infrared spectroscopy of isotopically-labeled peptides. Additional collaborations with outside laboratories will investigate the two-dimensional infrared and ultraviolet raman spectroscopy of some of these same peptides.
The studies by Prof. Decatur, his postdoctoral fellow, and his undergraduate research students should help lead us to a better understanding of some of the details of protein folding and protein aggregation. The problems of protein aggregation to be probed by Prof. Decatur's research will provide some of the basic information that will be useful in sorting out the mechanics of prion protein aggregation, implicated in a variety of diseases. In addition, the research experience that the proposed studies will provide to the young women at Mount Holyoke College will help them in pursuing future careers in the sciences, where women have been historically underrepresented.
