Research Interest:
My group investigates how a key virulence related protein in the fungal pathogen that causes Valley fever, CPS1, functions during its life cycle. The CPS1 protein is important because it can be knocked out to create a strain of the organism that is not virulent and may make a suitable vaccine candidate. We use a high-powered imaging technique, cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), to proved near atomic level images of the CPS1 protein to understand how it recognizes and acts on its substrate. We combine cryo-EM with with biochemical assays and light microscopy to gain an understanding of CPS1 activity.