California Institute of Technology, Ph.D., Chemistry, 1980 University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), B.S., Chemistry, 1975

The Scott group conducts research in the general areas of biophysical chemistry. Major current research projects include the use of X-ray absorption spectroscopy to study the structure of metals in biological systems, including metal binding sites in metallosensors and metalloregulators, as well as study of the metalloproteome. We also have an interest in selenobiology and the use of selenium substitution for sulfur in the study of substrate and coenzyme interactions with metal sites. Our other significant interest is in the field of archaeal transcription initiation and regulation. In addition to using biophysical and structural biology tools to define the molecular topography of the transcription initiation complex, we employ genomics and proteomics tools to discover new regulatory transcription factors in the hyperthermophilic marine archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus.