معرفی
Patricia L. Clark is the O'Hara Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Concurrent Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. Her research focuses on the thermodynamics and kinetics of protein folding in aqueous environments, with emphasis on the interplay between polypeptide sequence, solvent quality, and cellular machinery.
- Ph.D., Molecular Biophysics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (1997)
- B.S., Chemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology (1991)
Key research themes include:
- Probing conformational ensembles of intrinsically disordered proteins
- Investigating cotranslational folding mechanisms using ribosome-nascent chain complexes
- Developing computational and experimental tools (e.g., SAXS, FRET) to analyze folding pathways
- Elucidating the role of synonymous codon usage in protein biogenesis
- Studying stress-dependent oligomerization in bacterial protease-chaperones
Her recent publications (2024–2018) demonstrate a sustained focus on codon-mediated folding regulation, disordered protein behavior in water, and structural analysis of chaperone systems. Notable contributions include the CHARMING and HarMinMax algorithms for codon harmonization and the characterization of protein collapse phenomena.
Scientific appointments:
- O'Hara Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame
- Associate Vice President for Research
- Biophysics Instrumentation Core Facility Director
