Alan Culbertson

Assistant Professor Alan Culbertson at Iowa State University investigates plant ABC transporters critical for nutrient uptake, cell signaling, and stress responses. His research focuses on biochemical characterization and structural determination of these membrane proteins using advanced techniques.

• Education: Dual B.S. in Plant Biology & Biochemistry (Michigan State University), Ph.D. in Biochemistry (Iowa State University)

Research combines classical membrane protein methods with modern cryoEM to analyze transporter dynamics, substrate specificity, and conformational landscapes. Lab work extends to human health-related protein complexes through heterogeneous population analysis.

Key objectives include advancing structural biology beyond static models to dynamic functional understanding through computational strategies and cryoEM processing techniques.