News & Events

The Elmer L. Gaden Lecture Series

08/31/2011

Chemical Engineering at Columbia University is proud to present:

Assembly Line Biosynthesis of
Complex Molecules

Chaitan Khosla

Stanford University

Over the past two decades, much of the research in our laboratory has focused on understanding the modular, assembly line logic of polyketide synthases. These multifunctional enzymes catalyze the biosynthesis of numerous complex natural products, including many well-known and emerging antibiotics. A better understanding of their programmable catalytic cycles will create new opportunities for engineering green processes to make functionally dense, chiral synthons.

About our guest speaker:

CHAITAN KHOSLA (Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering) received his PhD in 1990 at Caltech. After completing postdoctoral studies at the John Innes Centre in the UK, he joined Stanford University in 1992. Over the past two decades he has studied polyketide synthases as paradigms for modular catalysis, and has exploited their properties for engineering novel antibiotics. More recently, he has investigated celiac sprue pathogenesis with the goal of developing therapies for this widespread but overlooked disease. He has co-authored over 250 publications and 50 U.S. patents, and is the recipient of several awards and honors, including membership of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

 

Location:

4:00 PM
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Davis Auditorium
412 Center for Engineering and Physical Science Research (CEPSR)
Columbia University

  Click here to download the event flyer.