Visiting Assistant Professor
Phone: (517) 432-2958
Fax: ( 517) 432-1105
Office: 3254 Engineering Bldg.
Laboratory: 3246 Eng. Bldg.
E-mail: venkates@egr.msu.edu
I was born and brought up in India (Madras). I am by training a Chemist, but my interest to study bio-molecules was only after I completed my Masters. I completed my Ph.D., during 1993-1998 at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Madras), working under Dr. P. T. Manoharan on “Spectroscopic studies on Reconstituted and hybrid Hemoglobin’s”. It was during this period that I gained my expertise in protein purification, modification and structural analysis using spectroscopic techniques. After completing my PhD., I worked with Prof. Hideki Morimoto at the Osaka University (Japan) between1999-2001. My research topic was to study the “Structural and functional aspects of mutant Hemoglobin’s”, which allowed me to gain experience in genetic engineering and molecular biology. After this, I had a one year (2001-2002) with a private paper company in Tokyo (Oji Paper Co., Ltd.). I worked over there as an R&D researcher with Dr. Jun Sugiura on “Modifying cellulases to increase its specific activity”. I later moved to Advanced Industrial Science and Technology Institute in Osaka (2002-2004) to work with Dr. Yoshihiro Omiya. My research area was to study the “Folding properties of luciferases in the presence of Chaperones”. Here I gained further experience in making stable protein and purifying them on a large scale.
However, it had always been my dream to apply my expertise in the area of protein engineering & purification for the benefit of the society. Saccharification of biomass using enzymes is one such area which has tremendous scope for the future. I have been working as a postdoctoral associate with Prof. Bruce Dale his Biomass Conversion Research group (BCRL) since Feb 2005. My research focus at present is on “Biomass pretreatment, protein extraction and enzymatic hydrolysis”.
Research Interests:
- Protein Extraction
- Enzymatic Hydrolysis
- Genetic engineering