Research Summary

Dr. Causgrove's research is aimed toward understanding the role of charged amino acid side chains in helix formation and aggregation. The goal is to characterize the underlying parameters that influence folding or aggregation and the physical basis of those parameters. His approach uses both equilibrium experiments and molecular modeling. The underlying parameters currently under study are the thermodynamics of interactions between oppositely-charged side chains, both intra-helix and inter-helix, and the effect on folding and aggregation of short peptides.