B.S., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1995; Ph.D., University of Utah, 2000. Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Caltech, 2005-07; Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, 2007-.

Membrane protein structure; protein synthesis and translocation; X-ray crystallography Assistant: Elisha Okawa The Clemons group is primarily interested in understanding the molecular details of life and as a tool we focus on "structural biology". We can't do everything...yet, so we currently work on problems related to protein transport across membranes and post-translational modification of proteins. We primarily use X-ray crystallography but also work with biochemistry, microbiology, mass spectrometry and electron microscopy. We are currently focused on three processes involved in protein secretion. The first two systems, Sec and Tat, are pathways for proteins to be translocated across membranes. The second is the essential eukaryotic process of protein glycosylation by which sugars are added specifically to proteins. We are also interested in the general problem of the over-expression and synthesis of membrane proteins.

Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics