MALAKER LAB - Key Persons
Deniz is junior in Ezra Stiles College majoring in chemistry. She enjoys learning about protein chemistry and the applications of chemical processes in the biological sciences.
Isa is a first-year in Berkeley College. She is interested in studying glycoproteomics and learning new methods and techniques for this field.
Keira completed her B.S. in chemistry at the University of Rhode Island, where she did research in method development for mass spectrometric analysis of energetic materials. She went on to obtain her PhD at the University of Virginia, where she worked to improve methodology for mass spectrometric identification of post translationally modified antigens. In the Malaker lab she works to optimize protocols, instrumentation, and programs for glycoproteomics.
Lea is a junior in Hopper College majoring in Chemistry and Music. She is interested in studying the intersection between chemistry and biology and learning about mass spectrometry techniques to better understand proteins.
Nara completed her B.S. in Biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame, where she studied the effect of phosphorylation on beta-lactamase BlaZ. She is currently a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry and is now interested in the development and application of MS-based glycoproteomics.
Sarah completed her BS in Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she did research in algal signaling pathways using mass spectrometry. She is currently a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry and is interested in both development and application of new MS-based methods for glycoproteomics.
Dr. Malaker obtained her bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in Biochemistry and Anthropology-Zoology. During this time, she worked at the Protein Structure Facility, performing peptide synthesis and using mass spectrometry for quality control. She then went on to receive her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Virginia in the laboratory of Professor Donald Hunt. There, her thesis work focused on enrichment and mass spectrometric identification of glycopeptides presented by the MHC class I and II processing pathways. Dr. Malaker continued to investigate the role of aberrant glycosylation in cancer as an NIH postdoctoral fellow in Professor Carolyn Bertozzi's laboratory at Stanford University. There, she used mass spectrometry and glycobiology to investigate mucinase activity on glycoproteins, with the ultimate goal of characterizing cancer-derived mucins.
Dr. Malaker's expertise in MS instrumentation and data analysis, combined with her experience in chemical biology and glycobiology, gives the Malaker laboratory a unique ability to tackle long-standing challenges associated with glycoproteomics. Her laboratory is focused on establishing methods and technology to study mucins, a class of densely O-glycosylated extracellular proteins, by MS. Additionally, the laboratory studies mucins in a biological context, since these proteins are integral in numerous diseases including cancer, cystic fibrosis, and inflammatory bowel diseases.
Taryn completed her B.S in Chemistry and Biochemistry at West Chester University. She obtained her PhD in Chemistry at the University of California, San Diego where she studied the binding preferences of influenza A virus. In the Malaker lab, she is interested in the structure of mucin glycoproteins and their expression in cancer.
Valentina is originally from a small town in Colombia, and completed their undergraduate degree at Florida State University, where they graduated with a BS Hons. in Environmental Chemistry and Statistics. Currently, they are interested in researching the interface between physical chemistry, mass spectrometry and applications to biological systems.
Vincent obtained his B.S. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California Davis where he performed undergraduate research under the guidance of Professor Carlito Lebrilla. In the Lebrilla lab, he used mass spectrometry (MS) to study glycoproteins and gained exposure to glycomics and glycoproteomics. Now as a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry, he is interested in using MS to study mucin domain glycoproteins.