Timothy A. Cross
Florida State Univ. & National High Magnetic Field Lab, USA
Biography
Timothy Cross has more that 30 years of experience characterizing membrane proteins in lipid bilayer environments using solid state NMR of liquid crystalline bilayer preparations of peptides and proteins. This has brought to light a fundamental understanding of membrane protein biophysics that has led to detailed functional characterizations of membrane channels – in particular the gramicidin monovalent cation channel and the influenza A M2 proton channel. In both systems the unique features of the membrane environment play crucial roles in the functional mechanisms and kinetics of ion conductance. Is this understanding of the influence of membrane and lipid environments through the use of solid state NMR that has driven his research at the frontier of membrane protein biophysics.