Steve Ealick's Research Group

Katherine Hicks

BS: Cell Biology/Biochemistry, Minor in British Literature, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, 2000

MS: Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2003

PhD: Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2005

Dissertation:

Protein farnesyltransferase: Investigation of peptide specificity determinants and identification of novel substrates.

Experience:

Summer, 1997  Research Fellow, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
Summer, 1998  Summer Research Fellow, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
Summer, 1999  Pharmaceutical Research Intern, Merck Laboratories, Rahway, NJ
2000 - 2006      Graduate Student Research Assistant, Chemistry Department, University of Michigan
Summer 2001   Pharmaceutical Research Intern, Pfizer Global Research and Development           
2006 - 2007     Visiting Assistant Professor, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
2008 - present   Post-doctoral Associate, Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Honors:
2000                 Phi Beta Kappa, Bucknell University
2001-2004        Cellular Biotechnology Training Grant Recipient
2002                 Halvor and Mary Christensen Award for Outstanding 2nd Year Biological Chemistry Student           
2003                 ACS Biological Chemistry Division Travel Award

Publications:

Rowlett, R. S., Tu, C., McKay, M. M., Preiss, J. R., Loomis, R. J., Hicks, K. A., Marchione, R. J., Strong, J. A., Donovan, G. S., Jr., and Chamberlin, J. E. (2002) Kinetic characterization of wild-type and proton transfer-impaired variants of beta -carbonic anhydrase from Arabidopsis thaliana, Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 404, 197-209. PubMed

Hartman, H. L., Hicks, K. A., and Fierke, C. A. (2005) Peptide Specificity of Protein Prenyltransferases Is Determined Mainly by Reactivity Rather than Binding Affinity, Biochemistry 44, 15314-15324. PubMed

Hicks, K. A., Hartman, H. L., and Fierke, C. A. (2005) Upstream Polybasic Region in Peptides Enhances Dual Specificity for Prenylation by Both Farnesyltransferase and Geranylgeranyltransferase Type I, Biochemistry 44, 15325-15333. PubMed

Reigard, S. A., Zahn, T. J., Haworth, K. B., Hicks, K. A., Fierke, C. A., and Gibbs, R. A. (2005) Interplay of Isoprenoid and Peptide Substrate Specificity in Protein Farnesyltransferase, Biochemistry 44, 11214-11223. PubMed

Krzysiak, A. J., Scott, S. A., Hicks, K. A., Fierke, C. A., and Gibbs, R. A. (2007) Evaluation of protein farnesyltransferase substrate specificity using synthetic peptide libraries, Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 17, 5548-5551. PubMed

Current Projects:

Crystallization and structure determination of enzymes related to polyamine biosynthesis.