Page 23 - CBAC Newsletter 2015
P. 23
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has directly crystallography program suite well known to all
affected me personally through my family. My structural biologists. Among them were Garib
husband suffers from heart failure, too. I believe Murshudov (author of a maximum likelihood
that studies conducted by the Cardiac Bioelec- refinement program Refmac5 and automatic
tricity & Arrhythmia Center (CBAC) and structure solution pipeline - BALBES), Alexei
highlighted in their seminars are on the Vaguine (creator of Molrep, Sfcheck, Libcheck)
cutting-edge of modern day research in heart and many other talented scientists working
disease diagnostics and treatment. The currently in famous labs and universities
participation in the work of CBAC, as well as around the world. I earned my Ph.D. degree
the collaboration with other scientists united by from the Shubnikov Institute of Crystallography
CBAC, will help me to be aware of the newest of the Russian Academy of Sciences in
developments and achievements in the Moscow. The subject of my thesis was the
treatment of heart disease and also, hopefully, catalytic mechanism of SAICAR-synthase,
contribute to the extension of our scientific the enzyme in the de novo pathway of purine
insights on the most mysterious organ in nucleotide biosynthesis, based on the crystal
humans and animals.
structures of the enzyme/substrate complex-
es. on several other projects which I continued
I grew up in a family of scientists. My father was after my graduation. In particular, I spent two
a theoretical physicist and my mother was an months in Daresbury Laboratory, UK as a
organic chemist. Although our parents gave me visiting scientist, studying the structure of
and my sister opportunities to study pian, D-Serine Dehydratase from E. coli. While com-
drawing, and ballet, I always wanted to be a pletiing my Ph.D. training, I attended a work-
scientist like my parents. Mathematics, biology shop for young crystallographers in EMBL in
and organic chemistry were my favorite Hamburg.
disciplines in school.
With my master’s degree in physics and
mathematics, I started my postgraduate Darya Urusova
training in biology and crystallography in the
Lab of Protein Crystallography, led by academi- Education:
cian B.K. Vainshtein, at Shubnikov Institute of • 1992 MS, Engineering
Crystallography of the Russian Academy of The Moscow Engineering Physical
Sciences in Moscow. The time in the Vainshtein Institute
Lab was a great experience for me where I
acquired not only robust, old-school academic • 2006 PhD, Structural Biology &
Macromolecular Crystallography
knowledge, but also learned from the people Shubnikov Institute of
who were creating and developing the Crystallography, Russian Academy
fundamental protein crystallography of Sciences
methods and innovative software. The spirit in
the lab and the exciting research inspired me Research:
in choosing my specialization. I feel blessed by How phosphorylation alters
having worked with the outstanding scientists intracellular loop conformations.
who developed CCP4 - a protein
CBAC Center Heartbeat | 17
