Research Assistant/Graduate Student in Chemistry

Posted on: 2007-03-01

MARGARET A. SCHMITT 330 S. MENTOR, APT. 337 • PASADENA, CA 91106 PHONE (626) 793-8725 E-MAIL [email protected] EDUCATION 2000-2005 University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI Graduate studies in chemistry, PhD granted August 2005 ▪ Thesis advisor: Samuel H. Gellman 1996-2000 Loras College, Dubuque, IA B. S. Chemistry (with Honors), maxima cum laude, May 2000 RESEARCH EXPERIENCE 2000-2005 University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI Doctoral research, Department of Chemistry (Samuel H. Gellman lab) NIH Molecular Biophysics Research Fellow ▪ Designed heterogeneous backbone oligoamides consisting of either equal or unequal proportions of alpha- and beta-amino acids (termed “alpha/beta-peptides”); characterized helical secondary structures in alpha/beta-peptides by NMR, CD, and molecular modeling ▪ Designed globally amphiphilic, antimicrobial alpha/beta-peptides based upon structural knowledge; assayed peptides for biological activity ▪ Designed small beta-hairpin molecules as model systems to study interactions important in the stabilization of beta-sheets; characterized secondary structures by NMR ▪ Worked toward the development of RP-HPLC-based thiol-disulfide exchange and thioester exchange assays as a means to assess beta-hairpin structural stability without the use of NMR ▪ Mentored younger graduate students ▪ Acquired skills: 1- and 2-dimensional NMR spectroscopy (data acquisition and analysis), NMR structure determination using DYANA and SYBYL, solid phase peptide synthesis, peptide design, HPLC techniques, MALDI-TOF-MS, circular dichroism (CD)spectroscopy, standard sterile techniques for bacteria cultures 1999-2000 Loras College, Dubuque, IA R. J. McElroy Student/Faculty Research Fellow (Advisor: David C. Speckhard) ▪ Examined kinetic inhibition patterns of CrCEPA vs. PEP for pyruvate kinase Summer 1999 Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA NSF Fellow, Research Experience for Undergraduates (Suzanne B. Shuker lab) ▪ Worked toward the synthesis of calix[4]arenes capable of being selectively functionalized with peptides and used in the synthesis of combinatorial calixarene-supported peptide libraries. AWARDS RECEIVED 2001-2004 NIH Predoctoral Fellow, Molecular Biophysics Training Program (University of WI) 2000 McElvain Scholar (University of Wisconsin) 2000 American Institute of Chemists: Outstanding Senior Student (Loras College) 1999-2000 R. J. McElroy Student/Faculty Research Award (Loras College) 1999-2000 Msgr. George C. Schulte Scholar (Loras College) Summer 1999 NSF Fellow, Research Experience for Undergraduates (Georgia Institute of Technology) 1999 Outstanding Student in Analytical Chemistry (Loras College) 1997 Outstanding First Year Student in Mathematics (Loras College) 1996 J. J. Keane Oratorical Contest winner (Loras College) 1996-2000 Presidential Scholarship (Loras College) Summer 1995 HHMI Workshop on Mathematical Modeling fellow (Knox College, Galesburg, IL) PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS American Chemical Society Delta Epsilon Sigma Honor Society RELEVANT WRITING EXPERIENCE 2000-2005 University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI Doctoral research, Department of Chemistry (Samuel H. Gellman lab) ▪ Prepared publications for submission to peer-reviewed journals (writing, editing, figure preparation, and proof-reading) ▪ Assisted research advisor in compiling and submitting grants to major funding organizations 1998-2000 Loras College, Dubuque, IA Undergraduate Writing Consultant, Campus Writing Lab ▪ Assisted students from a wide variety of disciplines with the preparation of written assignments and public presentations ▪ Participated in presentations about teaching the writing process at two National Writing Center Association conferences PUBLICATIONS AND PATENTS Schmitt, M. A.; Weisblum, B.; Gellman, S. H. “Interplay Among Folding, Sequence and Lipophilicity in the Antibacterial and Hemolytic Activities of alpha/beta-Peptides” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 417-428. Fisk, J. D.; Schmitt, M. A.; Gellman, S. H. “Thermodynamic Analysis of Autonomous Parallel beta-Sheet Formation in Water” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 7148-7149. Schmitt, M. A.; Choi, S. H.; Guzei, I. A.; Gellman, S. H. “New Helical Foldamers: Heterogeneous Backbones with 1:2 and 2:1 alpha:beta-Amino Acid Residue Patterns” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 4538-4539. Epand, R. F.; Schmitt, M. A.; Gellman, S. H.; Epand, R. M. “Role of Membrane Lipids in the Mechanism of Bacterial Species Selective Toxicity by Two alpha/beta-Antimicrobial Peptides” Biochim. Biophys. Acta (Biomembranes) 2006, 1758, 1343-1350. Schmitt, M. A.; Choi, S. H.; Guzei, I. A.; Gellman, S. H. “Residue Requirements for Helical Folding in Short alpha/beta-Peptides: Crystallographic Characterization of the 11-Helix in an Optimized Sequence” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 13130-13131. Sadowsky, J. D.; Schmitt, M. A.; Lee, H.-S.; Umezawa, N.; Wang, S.; Tomita, Y.; Gellman S. H. “Chimeric (alpha/beta + alpha-Peptide Ligands for the BH3-Recognition Cleft of Bcl-XL: Critical Role of the Molecular Scaffold in Protein Surface Recognition” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 11966-11968. De Stasio, G.; Schmitt, M. A.; Gellman, S. H. “Spectromicroscopy at the Organic-Inorganic Interface in Biominerals” American Journal of Science, 2005, 305, 673-686. Epand, R. F.; Schmitt, M. A.; Gellman, S. H.; Sen, A.; Auger, M.; Hughes, D. W.; Epand, R. M. “Bacterial Species Selective Toxicity of Two Isomeric alpha/beta-Peptides: Role of Membrane Lipids” Molecular Membrane Biology, 2005, 22, 457-469. Schmitt M. A.; Weisblum, B.; Gellman, S. H. “Unexpected Relationships between Structure and Function in alpha/beta-Peptides: Antimicrobial Foldamers with Heterogeneous Backbones.” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 6848-6849. Hayen, A.*; Schmitt M. A.*; Ngassa, F. N.; Thomasson, K. A.; Gellman S. H. “Two Helical Conformations from a Single Foldamer Backbone: “Split Personality” in Short alpha/beta-Peptides.” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2004, 43, 505-510. *Authors A. Hayen and M. A. Schmitt share equal authorship. Porter, E. A.; Wang, X.; Schmitt, M. A.; Gellman, S. H. “Synthesis and 12-Helical Secondary Structure of beta-Peptides Containing (2R,3R)-Aminoproline.” Org. Lett. 2002, 4, 3317-3319. Gellman, S. H.; Hayen, A.; Schmitt, M. A.; Ngassa, F. N. “Heterogeneous Foldamers Containing alpha, beta, and/or gamma-Amino Acids” U.S. Patent Application, filed August 26, 2003. PRESENTATIONS Schmitt, M. A.; Gellman, S. H. “Requirements for Folding in alpha/beta-Peptides: Relationship between Amino Acid Selection and Structure” Poster presentation at the 229th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, San Diego, CA, March 2005. Schmitt, M. A.; Weisblum, B.; Gellman, S. H. “alpha/beta-Peptide Oligomers: Helix Formation and Biological Activity” Poster presentation at the 227th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Anaheim, CA, March 2004 Schmitt, M. A.; Shuker, S. B. “Synthesis of an Aminomethyl Calixarene Library.” Poster presentation at the 219th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, San Francisco, CA, March 2000. REFERENCES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST