Contact Info:
Dept. of Chemistry
2107 Hahn Hall (0212)
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Tel: (540) 231-7011; Fax: (540) 231-3255
Email: tijana.grove@vt.edu
Research Interests:
Many fundamental yet complex biological functions are carried out by molecular machineries composed of proteins. The existence of such machineries indicates that functional assemblies are an inherent property of proteins. My group has undertaken the challenge of exploiting a detailed physical understanding of protein sequence - structure - function relationships to engineer molecular devices that can potentially address current needs in medicine and energy.
To this end we are interested in utilizing the modular nature of repeat proteins for application in (1) bioimaging and biosensors, and (2) assembly of materials and scaffolds for applications in energy and catalysis, and drug delivery and tissue engineering.
Our work is highly interdisciplinary and students will receive training in several areas of chemistry, structural biology, and materials science.
Specific projects in the group include:
Design of molecular recognition modules for imaging and sensing post-translational modifications of proteins
Self-assembly of repeat-protein arrays
Biotemplating of inorganic nanoparticles for energy and catalysis
Tijana Z. Grove
Assistant Professor
