April 2, 2008

New faculty member to join Stanford Chemistry

Stanford Chemistry welcomes Professor Lynette Cegelski, as our newest faculty member. She comes to us from Washington University in St. Louis, where received her Ph.D. and is a postdoctoral scholar.

Cegelski's research blends chemical biology, biophysics, and microbial pathogenesis in order to dissect the structure and function of the bacterial extracellular matrix. She aims to define and characterize the molecular interactions that orchestrate: the assembly of curli fibers - bacterial extracellular amyloid fibers; cell-cell adhesion; and biofilm fomation. Professor Cegelski will blend solid-state NMR spectroscopy together with other biochemical and biophysical tools (AFM, massspectrometry, solution-state NMR, fluorescence spectroscopy) in the qualitative and quantitative examination of complex macromolecular complexes and intact whole-cell systems.