Group Members

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John E. Straub

SCI 501A/505 (office/lab)
Phone: 617.353.2500 (department office)
Fax: 617.353.6466 (department fax)
straub@bu.edu
Office Hours: by appointment

View Professor Straub’s education and honors on his faculty profile.
Explore Professor Straub’s relation to Gay-Lussac through his chemical genealogy.

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Ayan Majumder (Graduate Student)

I am from Kolkata, India. I did my BSc from the Ramakrishna Mission Residential College, Narendrapur, and MSc from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. I joined Boston University in 2019. In the Straub group, I study protein homodimerization in membrane bilayer. I also work on the bacterial membranes and study modified forms of cholesterol in membranes.

Conor Abraham (Graduate Student)

I am from Minnetonka, Minnesota and completed my undergraduate studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. I joined the lab in 2020. My work in the Straub Group includes studies of β-secretase, α-secretase, the C99 fragment of Amyloid Precursor Protein, and the Serum Amyloid A protein fibril.

Fiona Mon (Graduate Student)

I am from Ellicott City, Maryland. I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland in Biochemistry. I joined the Straub group in 2022. My work is focused on modeling polymorphic structures of tau proteins to understand the role of hydration and polyanion interactions on nucleating amyloid formation. Additionally, I will be performing simulations of intrinsically disordered amyloid-forming tau protein monomers using coarse-graining strategies.

Sangram Prusty (Graduate Student)

I am from Odisha, India. I have completed my undergraduate studies from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, India with a major in Chemical Sciences and minor in Biological Sciences. I am currently a joint PhD student with Prof. Straub and Prof. QC. My research in Prof. Straub’s group focuses on using non-equilibrium approaches such as generalized Langevin equations to understand the underpinned mechanism of protein partitioning into different lipid phases. Besides this my research also encompasses comparative studies of polarizable and non-polarisable force field in capturing salt-bridge dynamics in proteins. In my leisure time I like to play music and cook.

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Former Group Members

Postdoctoral Fellows

Seulki Kwon (2020-2023), Ryo Urano (2015-2017), Afra Panahi (2014-2017), Laura Dominguez (2012-2014), Edyta Malolepsza (2009-2012), Adam Moser (2009-2012), Jaegil Kim (2007-2011), Susan DeSensi (2007-2009), Naoyuki Miyashita (2005-2007), Hiroshi Fujisaki (2003-2007), Alan van Giessen (2002-2005), Javier Guevara (1998-2000), Diane Sagnella (1998-2000)

Graduate Students

George Pantelopulos (2015-2021), Asanga Bandara (2014-2019), Qing Lu (2011-2015), Leigh Foster (2008-2014), Anna Victoria Martinez (2008-2013), Ping Zhang (2007-2012), Eva Rivera (2002-2009), Yong Zhang (2003-2008), Bogdan Tarus (2001-2006), Lintao Bu (1999-2004), Nicolae-Viorel Buchete (1996-2003), Troy Whitfield (1996-2001), Francesca Massi (1995-2001), Shuanghong Huo (1994-1999), Ioan Andricioaei (1994-1999), Patricia Amara (1991-1996), Jianpeng Ma (1991-1995), Ji-Kyung Choi (1994-1995)

Undergraduate Research Students

Yi-Chen Chen (2021-2023), Mari Nakamura (2021), Harrison Reiter (2019-2022), Jonathan Harris (2018-2022), Andrew Burwash (2016-2018), James Teruya (2016-2017), Longjiaxin “Elizabeth” Zhong (2015-2016), Emily Schmidt (2014-2015), Elizabeth Black (2014), Paola Velezy (2013-2014), Derrick Lewis (2011-2013), Lani Rush (2010-2012), Will Ginsberg (2008-2009), Janice Ye (2007-2008), Edwin Landaker (1994-1996), Sharon Motzkin (1994-1995), Ji-Kyung Choi (1991-1994), Alissa Rashkin (1990-1993), Deborah Pearlman (1990-1992)

High School Research Students

Eric Hu (2014), Dheekshita Kumar (2014), Zachary Ziegler (2011-2012), Nikhil Pradhan (2004), Courtney Sargent (2003), Arnold Oh (2001), Shawn Anthonyz (2000), Elizabeth Faist (1999), Meagan Clement (1997), Jonathan Chu (1997), Brandy Evans (1996), Daniel Sharfman (1996), Eric Lo (1995)