ABOUT JUSTIN
I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at Virginia Tech. I have been a Hokie since 2003, when I began my undergraduate career. I completed my Ph.D. at Virginia Tech under the supervision of Prof. David Bevan, after which I was a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Alex MacKerell at the University of Maryland, Baltimore in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Computer-Aided Drug Design Center.
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When I'm not writing grants, papers, or preparing lecture materials, you'll probably find me spending time with my wife, Kelly, who is also a Hokie and a veterinarian here in Blacksburg, our two boys, and our dogs. I'm an avid guitarist and you will likely find me playing music that reinforces my students' perception that I am "old."
EDUCATION
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Protein Misfolding and Amyloid Diseases
I am interested in understanding the driving forces behind protein unfolding and aggregation.
2013 - 2017
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Postdoctoral Fellow
G-Quadruplex Dynamics
We seek to understand the factors stabilizing non-canonical folds of DNA and RNA and the influence of ions.
Empirical Force Field Development
I am a developer of, and contributor to, the Drude polarizable force field.
Computer-Aided Drug Design
We are interested in applying computational tools to drug design and discovery.
2007 - 2012
Virginia Tech
Ph.D. Biochemistry
2003 - 2007
Virginia Tech
B.S. Biochemistry (In Honors)