معرفی
Dr. Melinda Diver is an Assistant Professor and Assistant Member at the Structural Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, with affiliations to the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and the Tri-Institutional PhD Program in Chemical Biology. She leads the Diver Lab, which investigates the molecular mechanisms of understudied membrane-embedded proteins, particularly ion channels and transporters, to identify novel therapeutic targets for chronic pain and cancer.
- B.Sc. in Biochemistry, University of British Columbia (2007)
- Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Structural Biology, Weill Cornell Graduate School (2015)
- Postdoctoral Training, University of California, San Francisco (2021)
Her research lies at the intersection of structural biology, biochemistry, and neuropharmacology, with a strong focus on cryo-electron microscopy to determine high-resolution structures of membrane proteins in functionally relevant states. She investigates how lipid-protein and protein-protein interactions modulate channel function, and how dysregulation contributes to disease. Her work emphasizes studying proteins in more native-like environments to bridge the gap between in vitro and in vivo models.
Dr. Diver’s recent publications reveal mechanistic insights into key proteins such as TRPM8 (a cold- and menthol-sensitive ion channel) and XPR1 (a phosphate exporter), uncovering details about gating mechanisms, desensitization, ligand binding, and ion permeation. Her studies integrate structural data with functional assays to provide comprehensive models of protein behavior.
She has received numerous prestigious awards, including:
- Josie Robertson Investigator (2021)
- NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) (2019)
- A.P. Giannini Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017)
- American Heart Association Pre-doctoral Fellowship (2012)
- Dorris J. Hutchinson Fellowship (2010)
Dr. Diver actively mentors graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from programs including the Weill Cornell BCMB Allied Program, Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program, and Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School. Her lab has been supported by major grants from the NIH and institutional funding. The Diver Lab is part of the Structural Biology Program and contributes to collaborative research in cancer and neuroscience, with a strong emphasis on translating structural insights into therapeutic strategies.
