Donald M. Kurtz Jr.
Distinguished Research Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry & Molecular
Biology
Distinguished
Research Professor 2001
Creative Research
Medal 1996
Donald M. Kurtz, Jr., Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
and Molecular Biology, examines the structure and function
of non-heme iron proteins; these are proteins that act as oxygen
carriers, atom catalysts, and iron transporters. Specifically
he studies a variety of non-heme proteins from invertebrates
and bacteria and is considered to be the world’s foremost authority
on hemerythrin, a non-heme iron oxygen-carrying progestin found
in some marine invertebrate. His research on these enzymes
takes an interdisciplinary approach that includes synthetic
inorganic modeling of the active sites, advanced spectroscopic
techniques, molecular biology and microbiology. Dr. Kurtz findings
on the mechanisms by which these proteins operate has applications
in agriculture, medicine, and the environment. He has developed
techniques to clone several non-heme iron proteins in order
to conduct detailed studies of their molecular structures and
chemical mechanisms for biotechnological applications.
Source: 22nd Annual Research Awards Program (2001)
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