Group Members

Robert Mann

Current Graduate Student

BS in Molecular Biosciences, Arizona State University, USA
robert.mann [ at ] vanderbilt.edu
Vanderbilt University - MBRIII 5140 Office Suite

Research Interests:

• RNA folding
• Viral RNA structure
• RNA-protein interactions

Co-mentored by Dr. Manuel Ascano (The Ascano Lab)

Project Description:

Viruses with RNA based genomes often contain structurally defined regions that are engaged in the viral infection cycle. The unpacking of viral RNA genomes to a deployed state is likely a structurally dynamic event that establishes the first intracellular host-pathogen interactions via viral and cellular RNA binding proteins. My research aims to explain and relate the structural changes of viral genomes using chemical biology, high-throughput sequencing, and computational structural methods. The Rosetta software suite will augment current viral RNA structural workflows to generate high-resolution structural models from experimentally derived data. These models will be utilized to guide research efforts characterizing the relationship between viral RNA structure and host-pathogen interactions.