Suzanne Scarlata

Suzanne Scarlata
Alma mater	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Scientific career
Thesis	Local motions in proteins as investigated by the thermal coeffecient of the frictional resistance to rotation  (1984)

Suzanne Frances Scarlata is the Richard Whitcomb Professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She is known for her work on how cells respond to hormones and neurotransmitters. She is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Education and career

Scarlata grew up in Philadelphia ^[1] and received a B.A. from Temple University in 1979. She went on to earn her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. ^[2] After her Ph.D. she accepted a position at AT&T Bell Laboratories where she worked on methods for testing circuit boards. She then moved to New York City where she worked at Cornell University Medical College. In 1991 she moved to Stony Brook University where she remained for 24 years. ^[1] In 2016 she moved to Worcester Polytechnic Institute where, as of 2022, she is the Richard Whitcomb Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry. ^[2] In 2016, Scarlata was elected president of the Biophysical Society and is presently the Editor-In-Chief of the Science of Nature. ^[1]

Research

In her own words, Scarlata is "fascinated by the way that cells grow, move, or die depending on their environment". ^[3] Her early research examined the motion of fluorophores. ^{[4] [5]} She went on to examine histones under high pressure, ^[6] the compression of lipid membranes, ^[7] and the binding affinities of compounds within lipids. ^[8] Scarlata is also interested in the use of enzymes to alter materials used in building construction. In 2021, Scarlata was involved in a research project that used the enzyme carbonic anhydrase to fix cracks in concrete. ^{[9] [10]}

Selected publications

• Rebecchi, M. J.; Scarlata, S. (1 June 1998). "PLECKSTRIN HOMOLOGY DOMAINS: A Common Fold with Diverse Functions" . Annual Review of Biophysics and Biomolecular Structure. 27 (1): 503–528. doi:10.1146/annurev.biophys.27.1.503. ISSN   1056-8700. PMID   9646876.
• Garcia, Pilar; Gupta, Rakesh; Shah, Shefali; Morris, Andrew J.; Rudge, Simon A.; Scarlata, Suzanne; Petrova, Victoria; McLaughlin, Stuart; Rebecchi, Mario J. (December 1995). "The pleckstrin homology domain of phospholipase C-.delta.1 binds with high affinity to phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate in bilayer membranes". Biochemistry. 34 (49): 16228–16234. doi:10.1021/bi00049a039. PMID   8519781.
• Scarlata, Suzanne; Carter, Carol (11 July 2003). "Role of HIV-1 Gag domains in viral assembly". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes. 1614 (1): 62–72. doi: 10.1016/S0005-2736(03)00163-9 . ISSN   0005-2736. PMID   12873766.
• Runnels, L.W.; Scarlata, S.F. (October 1995). "Theory and application of fluorescence homotransfer to melittin oligomerization". Biophysical Journal. 69 (4): 1569–1583. Bibcode:1995BpJ....69.1569R. doi:10.1016/s0006-3495(95)80030-5. ISSN   0006-3495. PMC   1236388 . PMID   8534828.

Awards and honors

In 2020 Scarlatta was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. ^[11]

References

1. "Suzanne Scarlata". The Biophysical Society. February 2016. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
2. "sfscarlata". WPI. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
3. "Suzanne Scarlata, Chemistry & Biochemistry". WPI. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
4. Rholam, Mohamed; Scarlata, Suzanne; Weber, Gregorio (1984-12-18). "Frictional resistance to the local rotations of fluorophores in proteins" . Biochemistry. 23 (26): 6793–6796. doi:10.1021/bi00321a079. ISSN   0006-2960.
5. Scarlata, Suzanne; Rholam, Mohamed; Weber, Gregorio (1984-12-18). "Frictional resistance to local rotations of aromatic fluorophores in some small peptides" . Biochemistry. 23 (26): 6789–6792. doi:10.1021/bi00321a078. ISSN   0006-2960.
6. Scarlata, Suzanne Frances; Ropp, Traci; Royer, Catherine A. (1989-08-08). "Histone subunit interactions as investigated by high pressure" . Biochemistry. 28 (16): 6637–6641. doi:10.1021/bi00442a016. ISSN   0006-2960. PMID   2790018.
7. Scarlata, S.F. (1991). "Compression of lipid membranes as observed at varying membrane positions". Biophysical Journal. 60 (2): 334–340. Bibcode:1991BpJ....60..334S. doi:10.1016/s0006-3495(91)82058-6. ISSN   0006-3495. PMC   1260069 . PMID   1912276.
8. Runnels, Loren W.; Jenco, John; Morris, Andrew; Scarlata, Suzanne (1996-01-01). "Membrane Binding of Phospholipases C-β1 and C-β2 Is Independent of Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-Bisphosphate and the α and βγ Subunits of G Proteins" . Biochemistry. 35 (51): 16824–16832. doi:10.1021/bi961606w. ISSN   0006-2960. PMID   8988021.
9. Rosewitz, Jessica A.; Wang, Shuai; Scarlata, Suzanne F.; Rahbar, Nima (2021-06-01). "An enzymatic self-healing cementitious material". Applied Materials Today. 23 101035. doi: 10.1016/j.apmt.2021.101035 . ISSN   2352-9407. S2CID   234837645.
10. Guimapang, Katherine (June 21, 2021). "Researchers develop a feasible solution for self-healing concrete in the construction industry". Archinect. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
11. "AAAS Announces Leading Scientists Elected as 2020 Fellows | American Association for the Advancement of Science". www.aaas.org. Retrieved 2022-01-07.

External links

• Suzanne Scarlata publications indexed by Google Scholar