Larry D. Byers

Larry D. Byers is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Tulane University's School of Science & Engineering. His research focuses on the mechanisms of enzymatic reactions, particularly hydrolytic enzymes like β-glucosidase and hyaluronidase, and glycolytic enzymes such as glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase.

• Education: Ph.D. in Chemistry (1972) from Princeton University

Research Interests: The Byers Group employs physical organic chemistry techniques including structure-reactivity relationships and kinetic isotope effects to study enzyme catalysis. Their work also involves designing transition state analogs to understand enzyme efficiency, specificity, and inhibition—key insights for drug design and catalytic antibody development.

Recent Publications highlight trends in transition state analog applications for enzyme inhibition, solvent isotope effects on glucosidase activity, and binding site analysis in hydrolytic enzymes.

Students: His advisees include Ph.D. graduates like Ross Zaenglein (2021), Karry LeBlanc (2020), Miaomiao Xie (2014), and others dating back to 1986. Alumni have pursued careers in academia, industry, and research labs like the Naval Research Lab.

Labs & Teams: The Byers Group at Tulane continues to explore enzyme mechanisms and their applications in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.