Danica Galonić Fujimori
Danica Galonić Fujimori (Serbian: Даница Галонић Фуџимори) is a Serbian-American chemical biologist who is a professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Her research considers nucleic acid synthesis and tissue engineering. In the search for new therapeutics and vaccines, she has studied the interactions between ribosomes and SARS-CoV-2.
Danica Galonić Fujimori | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign University of Belgrade |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of California, San Francisco Harvard Medical School |
| Thesis | Convergent Site-Selective Carbohydrate-Peptide Ligations With Dehydroalanine and Aziridine -2 -Carboxylic Acid-Containing Peptides (2005) |
| Website | Fujimori Lab |
Early life and education edit
Galonić Fujimori earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Belgrade. She moved to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for her doctoral research, where she earned a PhD in biochemistry. Her research considered the development of two strategies for site-selective peptide modification.[1] She then moved to the Harvard Medical School where she worked alongside Christopher A. Walsh.[2]
Research and career edit
Galonić Fujimori has studied various biological processes, including chromatin formation, transcriptional regulation and DNA repair.[3] Methylation impacts the regulation of biological processes, and the deregulation of methylation is associated with various diseases. As such, understanding and exploiting enzymatic regulation of methylation could provide an opportunity for therapeutic intervention.[4] She has studied Jumonji domain-containing histone-lysine demethylases, complex proteins which catalyze the removal of methylation marks on the lysine residues of multiple histones can contain chromatin reader domains. These reader domains interact with chromatin, an interaction which is modulated by chromatin modifications.[4] To probe the cellular function of the Jumonji family, the Galonić Fujimori laboratory develop small molecule inhibitors. She proposes that these molecules can be used to inhibit the aberrant demethylation that occurs in certain diseases.[4] She has investigated the methylation of RNA, and how this impacts the cellular function of RNA.[4]
Fujimori investigates how bacteria acquire immune responses to antibiotics.[5] She has focused her efforts on antibiotics that target the ribosome of bacteria, which is involved with protein syntehsis. Antibiotics such as linezolid bind to sites such as the peptidyl transferase center, blocking protein biosynthesis.[5]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Galonić Fujimori started working on virus-host interactions in response to SARS-CoV-2. She showed that bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) proteins were involved in the body's response to COVID-19 infection.[6] She started working on pharmaceuticals to tackle future pandemics.[7]
Awards and honors edit
- 2011 National Science Foundation CAREER Award[8]
- 2015 University of California, San Francisco Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educators Excellence in Teaching Award[9]
- 2015 University of California, Berkeley Sackler Sabbatical Exchange Program[10]
- 2017 University of California, San Francisco Byers Award Lecture in Basic Sciences[11]
- 2020 Keck Foundation WM Keck Medical Research Award[3]
- 2020 Bowes Biomedical Investigator Award[12]
Selected publications edit
- Carsten Krebs; Danica Galonić Fujimori; Christopher T Walsh; J Martin Bollinger (2 June 2007). "Non-heme Fe(IV)-oxo intermediates". Accounts of Chemical Research. 40 (7): 484–492. doi:10.1021/AR700066P. ISSN 0001-4842. PMC 3870002. PMID 17542550. Wikidata Q34633429.
- Danica P Galonić; Eric W Barr; Christopher T Walsh; J Martin Bollinger; Carsten Krebs (14 January 2007). "Two interconverting Fe(IV) intermediates in aliphatic chlorination by the halogenase CytC3". Nature Chemical Biology. 3 (2): 113–116. doi:10.1038/NCHEMBIO856. ISSN 1552-4450. PMID 17220900. Wikidata Q57837771.
References edit
- ^ Galonic, Danica (2005). "Convergent Site-Selective Carbohydrate-Peptide Ligations With Dehydroalanine and Aziridine -2 -Carboxylic Acid-Containing Peptides". hdl:2142/87884.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Group". FUJIMORI LAB. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
- ^ a b "ChemBio e-seminar by Prof. Danica Fujimori - EPFL". memento.epfl.ch. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
- ^ a b c d "Danica Galonić Fujimori, PhD · Professor". UCSF School of Pharmacy. 2013-08-08. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
- ^ a b "Fujimori Delivers 2017 Byers Award Lecture on Tackling Antibiotic Resistance | UC San Francisco". www.ucsf.edu. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
- ^ "BETting on COVID-19: Study probes role of BET proteins in coronavirus infection". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
- ^ "UCSF QBI Coronavirus Research Group awarded $67.5 million to develop therapies for future pandemics". UCSF School of Pharmacy. 2022-05-18. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
- ^ "NSF Award Search: Award # 1056143 - CAREER: A Chemical Approach to Elucidate the Mechanism of Radical SAM Methyltransferases". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
- ^ "UCSF Office of Medical Education Year in Review 2014-15 by UCSF Medical Education - Issuu". issuu.com. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
- ^ "About | Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center". vcresearch.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
- ^ "2017 Byers Award Lecture in Basic Science". UCSF School of Pharmacy. 2017-01-18. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
- ^ "Danica Fujimori Receives Bowes Biomedical Investigator Award". UCSF School of Pharmacy. 2020-09-18. Retrieved 2023-01-08.