Metals in Biology

Bioinorganic and Biomimetic Catalysis

Protein Assembly and Aggregation

Neurochemistry and Aging Diseases

Intrinsically Disordered Proteins

Education

• NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, National Institute on Aging, 2011-13
• Lenfant Biomedical Fellow, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2008-11
• Visiting Fellow, Global Center of Excellence, Osaka University, 2008
• Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 2009
• B.S., Randolph-Macon College, 2002

Research Interests

• Physiological metal imbalance, neurodegeneration and aging
• Rational design of light-initiated metallodrugs
• Contribution of transition metals to olfaction

Select Publications

Abeyawardhane, D. L.; Fernández, R. D.; Heitger, D. R.; Crozier, M. K.; Wolver, J.; Lucas, H. R.*, Copper-Induced Radical Dimerization of α-Synuclein Requires Histidine. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, In Press.  doi: 10.1021/jacs.8b08947

Abeyawardhane, D. L.; Heitger, D. R.; Fernández, R. D.; Lucas, H. R.*, C-terminal CuII Coordination to α-Synuclein Enhances Aggregation. ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2018, In Press. doi: 10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00448

Fernández, R. D.; Lucas, H. R.*, Isolation of recombinant tetrameric N-acetylated α-synuclein. Protein Expression Purif. 2018, 152, 146-54.  

Fernández, R. D.; Lucas, H. R.*, Mass spectrometry data confirming tetrameric α-synuclein N-terminal acetylation. Data Br. 2018, 20, 1686-91.

Abeyawardhane, D. L.; Fernández, R. D.; Murgas, C. J.; Heitger, D. R.; Forney, A. K.; Crozier, M. K.; Lucas, H. R.*, Iron Redox Chemistry Promotes Antiparallel Oligomerization of α-Synuclein. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 5028-32.   

Awards

• Lenfant Biomedical Award, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2011
• Young Investigator Award, American Chemical Society, 2009
• Zeltmann Fellowship in Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, 2006-07
• Gordon Research Seminar Chair’s Fund Award, Bioinorganic Chemistry, 2006
• The American Institute of Chemists Award, Randolph-Macon College, 2002