Educational Background:

• Dr. Weber is studying the structure and function of several key regulatory proteins in order to understand the molecular basis for cancer, AIDS and other diseases. Her laboratory applies a combination of X-ray crystallography, molecular modeling, biochemical and bioinformatics analyses to elucidate function, engineer proteins, and design potential therapeutic agents. The crystal structures of proteins provide important information on the molecular mechanisms of disease and help to design new agents for diagnosis, prevention or treatment of cancer and other diseases. Dr. Weber's team is studying the molecular basis for HIV drug resistance, and assisting in the development of the next generation of antiviral agents that target HIV protease (Bagossi et al., 2004; Tie et al., 2004). They are defining the geometry of the enzyme reaction in esterases (Liu et al., 2004). This class of enzymes plays important roles in metabolism of narcotics and prodrug activation for cancer treatment. They are investigating the structures and interactions of several proteins implicated in development of cancer (Petock et al., 2002; 2003).