Don Elmore

My lab investigates proteins associated with the cell membrane. Our primary project concerns histone-derived antimicrobial peptides (HDAPs). While many HDAPs have been isolated from natural sources, relatively little is known about their mode of action on the molecular level. We use molecular dynamics simulations and a variety of experimental methods to investigate the structure-function relationships of these peptides and design novel HDAPs. I also continue research on bacterial ion channels that I began as a graduate student. Also, a new collaboration with Kaye Peterman (Biological Sciences) investigates the lipid binding interactions of the plant protein Patellin1. One of the best parts of my position at Wellesley is the ability to collaborate with talented undergraduates, and between 2004 and 2009 I was fortunate to work with 35 students. These students have made central contributions to my research, and many of them are co-authors on journal articles. This work has been funded by external awards from the National Institutes of Health and Research Corporation, and I was selected as a Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar in 2011.

I primarily teach courses in biochemistry and introductory chemistry at Wellesley. In these courses, I place a particular emphasis on fostering student group work and increasing student exposure to research methods and data analysis. Recently, I also worked on developing a course that introduces newly declared biological chemistry majors to research opportunities at the college and beyond. It was a very pleasant surprise to receive the Pinanski Prize in Teaching from the college in 2009. One particular interest of mine is incorporating computational modeling methods throughout the curriculum. To this end, I developed a series of computer lab activities for the core biochemistry courses. In addition, I have taught an upper-level courses on computational chemistry, often with a focus on the molecular modeling of biochemical systems. An article describing some of the computational activities used in these course was published in BAMBED, and these activities can be downloaded from my lab website.

Currently, I am serving as the Director of Wellesley's Program in Biological Chemistry as well as on the Trustee Committee for Academic Affairs. In recent years, I also have been involved with the Wellesley community through working with the Agenda Committee (co-chair 11-12), the Medical Professions Advisory Committee, the Ruhlman committee, the Junior Faculty Research Seminar series and as the president and vice-president of the Wellesley Sigma Xi chapter. Professional interests beyond Wellesley include mentoring students at Framingham High school on various research projects. In addition to actively presenting with student co-authors at the annual meetings of the American Chemical Society and the Biophysical Society, I regularly review articles for a number of journals (e.g. PNAS, FEBS Letters, FEBS Journal, and Peptides).

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my wife, Julia Prentice, a health services researcher for the Department of Veterans Affairs, and our two wonderful (in my clearly objective opinion) children. Whenever possible, I love to catch live music, with a particular affinity for Americana/folk and jazz. Since coming to Wellesley, I have worked to overcome some of the main disadvantages of moving from LA: I confront the unfavorable winter weather by getting outside as much as possible in the admittedly beautiful New England summers, and I stay up a bit late to catch Dodgers games on the West Coast.

For more information on my research, please visit the Elmore Lab website.