Jean Baum

Last updated
Jean Baum
Alma mater Barnard College (AB), University of California, Berkeley (PhD)
Scientific career
Doctoral advisor Alexander Pines
Website https://rutchem.rutgers.edu/the-baum-group-home

Jean Baum is an American chemist. She is the distinguished professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rutgers University, where she is also vice dean for research and graduate education in the school of arts and sciences, and also vice chair of the department of chemistry and chemical biology. [1] Her research investigates protein–protein interaction and protein aggregation using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and other biochemical and biophysical techniques. [2] She serves as treasurer for the Protein Society. [1]

Contents

Education

Baum obtained her bachelor degree magna cum laude at Barnard College in 1980. She completed her PhD in physical chemistry with Alexander Pines at University of California, Berkeley from 1981-1986, working on solid-state NMR. [3] [4]

Research and career

After completing her PhD, Baum changed her research focus towards biological applications of NMR, especially in solution-state. She worked with Chris Dobson at University of Oxford from 1986-1988, [5] while holding a Fulford junior research fellowship at Somerville College. [4] During this time, she used NMR to investigate partly folded and misfolded proteins. [6] She joined Rutgers University in 1988 as a Henry Rutgers Research Fellow, and was promoted to distinguished professor in 2010. [3] [4]

Baum uses both solution- and solid-state NMR in her research. Her research investigates the structure and dynamics of proteins, including alpha-synuclein, [7] [8] which can aggregate to form amyloid fibrils, and collagen. [2] [9] [10] The molecular interactions involved in the assembly of the functional and pathological forms of these proteins can be elucidated by NMR investigations. [11] Since May 2020, her research has included studying the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein using a combined experimental and computational approach. [12]

Honors and awards

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References

  1. 1 2 "Jean Baum". Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  2. 1 2 "The Baum Group - Home". rutchem.rutgers.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  3. 1 2 "The Protein Society : Jean S. Baum". www.proteinsociety.org. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  4. 1 2 3 "Baum, Jean". rutchem.rutgers.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  5. ↑ Baum, Jean; Chiti, Fabrizio; De Simone, Alfonso; Knowles, Tuomas P. J.; Kumita, Janet R.; Radford, Sheena E.; Robinson, Carol V.; Salvatella, Xavier; Valelli, Karen; Vendruscolo, Michele; Pastore, Annalisa (2019-12-12). "Homage to Chris Dobson". Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences. 6: 137. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2019.00137 . ISSN   2296-889X. PMC   6921691 . PMID   31921887.
  6. ↑ Baum, Jean; Dobson, Christopher M.; Evans, Philip A.; Hanley, Claire (1989-01-10). "Characterization of a partly folded protein by NMR methods: studies on the molten globule state of guinea pig .alpha.-lactalbumin". Biochemistry. 28 (1): 7–13. doi:10.1021/bi00427a002. ISSN   0006-2960. PMID   2706269.
  7. ↑ Wu, Kuen-Phon; Weinstock, Daniel S.; Narayanan, Chitra; Levy, Ronald M.; Baum, Jean (2009-08-28). "Structural Reorganization of α-Synuclein at Low pH Observed by NMR and REMD Simulations". Journal of Molecular Biology. 391 (4): 784–796. doi:10.1016/j.jmb.2009.06.063. ISSN   0022-2836. PMC   2766395 . PMID   19576220.
  8. ↑ Kang, Lijuan; Moriarty, Gina M.; Woods, Lucy A.; Ashcroft, Alison E.; Radford, Sheena E.; Baum, Jean (July 2012). "N-terminal acetylation of α-synuclein induces increased transient helical propensity and decreased aggregation rates in the intrinsically disordered monomer: N-Terminal Acetylation of α-Synuclein". Protein Science. 21 (7): 911–917. doi:10.1002/pro.2088. PMC   3403430 . PMID   22573613.
  9. ↑ Long, Cynthia Gwynne; Braswell, Emory; Zhu, Dan; Apigo, Josefa; Baum, Jean; Brodsky, Barbara (1993-01-26). "Characterization of collagen-like peptides containing interruptions in the repeating Gly-X-Y sequence". Biochemistry. 32 (43): 11688–11695. doi:10.1021/bi00094a027. ISSN   0006-2960. PMID   8218237.
  10. ↑ Baum, Jean; Brodsky, Barbara (1999-02-01). "Folding of peptide models of collagen and misfolding in disease". Current Opinion in Structural Biology. 9 (1): 122–128. doi:10.1016/S0959-440X(99)80016-5. ISSN   0959-440X. PMID   10047579.
  11. ↑ "Faculty Research - Baum, Jean". rutchem.rutgers.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  12. ↑ "COVID-19: SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein". chem.rutgers.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
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