Steven Rokita

Steven Rokita is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University, where he also directs the Chemistry-Biology Interface Graduate Training Program. He has previously held faculty positions at the University of Maryland, College Park, and SUNY Stony Brook. His research bridges chemical and biological sciences with a focus on enzyme mechanisms and nucleic acid chemistry.

Education:

• B.S. in Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley
• Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, Rockefeller University

Dr. Rokita's research interests center on bioorganic chemistry and biochemistry, particularly the chemical reactivity of biological macromolecules. His lab investigates enzymatic dehalogenation, especially the flavin-dependent iodotyrosine deiodinase, and reversible covalent chemistry involving quinone methide intermediates. These studies integrate organic synthesis, physical organic chemistry, protein and nucleic acid chemistry, and molecular biology to explore enzyme catalysis and DNA modification.

His recent publications reflect a strong focus on DNA conformation effects on lesion reversibility, substrate electronics in enzyme mechanisms, and the functional evolution of dehalogenases. The work spans from fundamental mechanistic enzymology to applications in DNA repair and bioremediation.

Dr. Rokita has mentored numerous graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, many of whom have gone on to successful independent careers. He continues to lead an active research group at Johns Hopkins, supervising projects on IYD function, quinone methide dynamics, and azoreductase-sensitive prodrugs.

His laboratory contributes significantly to understanding how transient electrophilic intermediates like quinone methides can be harnessed for targeted DNA modification, with implications for drug development and molecular biology tools.