Amy E. Keating, PhD
Research Highlights
The Keating Lab's goal is to understand, at a high level of detail, how the interaction properties of proteins are encoded in their sequences and structures
Staff
Research:
We are studying the specificity of protein-protein interactions in a research program that combines bioinformatic analysis, structural modeling, computational design and experimental characterization. Our aim is to understand, at a high level of detail, how the interaction properties of proteins are encoded in their sequences and structures. Most of our work is focused on two protein families that are important for human health: the α-helical coiled coil and the Bcl-2 family of apoptosis-regulating proteins.
Biography:
Professor Keating studied physics as an undergraduate at Harvard College and obtained her Ph.D. in 1998 from the University of California, Los Angeles. In her graduate work she applied computational and experimental methods in physical organic chemistry to the study of carbene reaction mechanisms. She started working on protein interactions as a postdoctoral fellow in the Whitehead Institute and the MIT Chemistry Department. A member of the MIT Biology Department since 2002, Professor Keating joined the Department of Biological Engineering in 2014. In 2023 she was named head of the MIT Department of Biology.