Elizabeth Duran

Elizabeth Duran is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the College of Arts and Sciences. She joined UAB in August 2023 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor. Her research focuses on understanding RNA helicases involved in cancer-related RNA processing functions using advanced biophysical techniques.

Dr. Duran earned her educational degrees from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, including a Ph.D. in Chemistry (2018), M.S. in Chemistry (2015), and previously completed her B.A. in Chemistry at Florida International University (2010).

Her research program investigates the biochemical characterization and mechanistic understanding of human RNA helicases involved in tumorigenesis-linked RNA processing functions such as alternative splice site selection and genomic maintenance.

• She employs single molecule fluorescence microscopy and ensemble biophysical techniques
• Her lab studies kinetic and thermodynamic mechanisms of RNA helicase functions
• Research focuses on both wild type and disease variants of these proteins

Analysis of Dr. Duran's publications reveals a consistent focus on molecular mechanisms of protein machinery involved in RNA processing and protein disaggregation. Her work spans from fundamental biophysics of protein-nucleic acid interactions to applications in understanding disease mechanisms. The research demonstrates increasing sophistication in single-molecule techniques and a progression toward studying human disease-relevant systems.

Dr. Duran has secured extramural funding for her research, including a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences/NIH/DHHS titled 'Protein-driven Dynamics of Pre-mRNA splicing Catalysis through Single Molecule Microscopy' (2023). She actively participates in graduate education, serving on multiple dissertation committees and teaching courses including Physical Chemistry II, Intro to Graduate Research, and Fundamentals of Biochemistry.

Her laboratory represents an interdisciplinary approach that bridges biochemistry, biophysics, and cancer biology, with a particular emphasis on developing and applying advanced single-molecule techniques to understand fundamental biological processes at the molecular level.