The Rockefeller University, Box 187
1230 York Avenue
New York, NY 10065

Telephone: 212-327-8283
Fax: 212-327-7904
pmukhopadh@rockefeller.edu


Curriculum Vitae

Education:

Postdoctoral Associate, Rockefeller Universitry, March, 2009 - present
Ph.D. in Chemistry Duke University,USA, 2008
M.S. in Biological Sciences University of Calgary, Canda, 2003
M.S. in Chemistry Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India, 2001
B.S. in Chemistry University of Delhi, India, 1999

Research:

Probing the molecular plasticity of chemokine:receptor macromolecular complex.
Summary: Chemokines are protein molecules that are critical mediators of cell migration during routine immune surveillance, inflammation, and development. Despite the pivotal role of chemokines in the immune system, these proteins are also associated with a large number of pathologies. For example, chemokine and their receptors (binding partners) participate in a number of human disease states including HIV/AIDS and cancer. Thus, chemokines are subjects of significant medical importance. We aim to understand the structural basis of the biological function of chemokines, which will help to develop chemical and biochemical methodologies for in vivo modulation of chemokine for therapeutic applications.
Research@Duke University:
Stereochemical analysis of chiral molecules in solution using chiroptical spectroscopy.

Summary: Modern chemistry emerged from the quest to describe the three-dimensional (3D) structure of molecules: van’t Hoff’s tetravalent carbon placed symmetry and dissymmetry at the heart of chemistry. We used modern chiroptical theory to elucidate the symmetry and dissymmetry of molecules and their assemblies. Chiroptical spectroscopy, including optical rotatory dispersion, electronic circular dichroism, vibrational circular dichroism, and Raman optical activity, measures the response of dissymmetric structures to electromagnetic radiation. This response can in turn reveal the arrangement of atoms in space, but deciphering the molecular information encoded in chiroptical spectra requires an effective theoretical approach. The computation of chiroptical signatures, in close coordination with synthesis and spectroscopy, provides a powerful framework to diagnose and to interpret the dissymmetry of chemical structures and molecular assemblies. We used chiroptical theory to elucidate 3D structures of molecules in solution (Figure 1), and explain how dissymmetry is templated and propagated in the condensed phase (Figure 2).

Awards:

• Departmental recognition award, Department of Chemistry, Duke University, 2007, for my research article published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, where it also received the “Very Important Paper” designation; the work was also highlighted in Science (2007, 317:725) and Chemical and Engineering News (6 August, 2007).

• Kathleen Zielek Fellowship for “Excellence in Research”, Department of Chemistry, Duke University, 2007.

• Conference travel award, Graduate School, Duke University, 2007 and 2008.

• Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research (GIAR), 2006.

• Charles Bradsher Endowment Award for “Outstanding Graduate Student in Chemistry”, Department of Chemistry, Duke University, 2006.

• Graduate School Research Scholarship, University of Calgary, 2003.

• Competitive based admission to a summer school in theoretical and computational biophysics, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 2003.

• Graduate School differential fee award, University of Calgary, 2001.
  
  

7).
P. Mukhopadhyay, P. Wipf, D.N. Beratan
Optical signatures of molecular dissymmetry: Combining theory with experiments to address stereochemical puzzles.
Accounts of Chemical Research, 2009, ASAP. [Full text available]

PMID: 19378940 [PubMed - in process]

6).
P. Mukhopadhyay, G. Zuber, D.N. Beratan
Characterizing aqueous solution conformations of a peptide backbone using Raman optical activity computation.
Biophysical Journal, 2008, 95:5574-5586.

PMID: 18805935 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

1).
J.L. MacCallum, P. Mukhopadhyay, H. Luo, D.P. Tieleman
Large scale molecular dynamics simulations of lipid-drug interactions.
Proceedings of the 17th Annual International Symposium on High Performance Computing Systems and Applications and the OSCAR Symposium, David Senechal (editor), NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Canada, 2003.

[not indexed on PUBMED]

Recent Presentations:

• Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, November 2008.

• Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, The Rockefeller University, October 2008.

• Roche, Palo Alto, July 2008.

• Structural Biology and Biophysics Program, Duke University, May 2007 and April 2008.

• Graduate School Research Day, Duke University, April 2008.

• Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, January and December2002.

• Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, January 2000.

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