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M.S. Indian Institute of Technology, 2006
Hello, my name is Ankit Gupta and I 'll be beginning my second year in the Biophysics, Structural, and Computational Biology Program. I graduated in 2006 from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, India with a BS and MS (Dual Degree) in Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering. I have been in Rochester for about an year and would say that it is a great place for research as well for social activities and music. Currently, I am doing my PhD research in Clara Kielkopf's Lab. In the lab, I am focusing on proteins, U2AF65 and Splicing factor 1, involved in pre-mRNA splicing and trying to understand how these two proteins interact with one another and RNA. During the course of my graduate research, I will have an opportunity to learn a number of biophysical techniques like crystallography, NMR, fluorescence and calorimetry. Besides working in the lab, I like watching movies, listening to Indian music and visiting exciting places for hiking, gaming, etc. in Upstate New York.
B.A. Colgate University, 2006
Hi, my name is Krystle Williams and I'm entering my second year in the Biophysics program. I graduated in 2006 from Colgate University with a concentration in Physics. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, I have called western NY my home for the last five years, having developed a perplexing affinity for snow. I'm a proud member of the Kielkopf Lab, where we primarily study splicing proteins through x-ray crystallography and other biophysical methods, such as isothermal titration calorimetry. I'm currently working with a splicing protein from Drosophila melanogaster called Sxl which functions during sex determination. When I'm not doing research I can probably be found playing softball on the departmental team, watching bollywood movies, doting on my plants or playing steeldrum with a local band.
Matthew SeetinB.S. Harvey Mudd College, 2004
Hi, my name is Matt Seetin, and I'll be going into my fourth year as a grad student in the Biophysics, Structural, and Computational Biology program. I'm originally from Seattle, WA, and I got my B.S. in physics from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA. I work under Dr. David Mathews. Our lab is a computational lab, and we focus on RNA structure prediction and dynamics employing molecular dynamics simulation and thermodynamic modeling. I'm currently working on three different projects for my Ph. D. research. For the first, I'm collaborating with the Wedekind lab and calculating low-energy pathways by which our RNA molecule can fold between two different conformations. We will use the data from these calculations to identify possible intermediates that can be trapped, blocked, or otherwise studied experimentally, bridging the gap between experimental and computational science. For my other projects, I'm updating the AMBER molecular dynamics package to include structural features for RNA molecules including base pairing and coaxial stacking restraints, and I'm looking at the free energies of folding small RNA structures and comparing them with the Nearest Neighbor model, the current standard for RNA secondary structure prediction developed here in the Turner lab. It keeps me on my toes!
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