New faculty in the spotlight

Brian Crane joined the chemistry and chemical biology department as an assistant professor in August from the California Institute of Technology, where he was a research associate. At Cornell he will focus on the structural principles of redox- and photo-chemistry in biological catalysis and regulation. Specifically, he seeks better understanding of how metallo-enzymes stabilize transient intermediates during catalysis, how protein structure controls long-range electronic transfer and how photo and redox processes are used in biological information transfer.

"First and foremost, I was impressed with the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and its vision for the future of chemical biology, and I felt that my interests and experience complemented this expertise well. The proximity of CHESS and the new tri-institutional collaboration with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and The Rockefeller University also are very attractive aspects of conducting research at Cornell."

-- Assistant Professor Brian Crane

Jianhua Fu came to Cornell this September as assistant professor of molecular biology and genetics from the Department of Structural Biology at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he was a postdoctoral fellow. In humans, genes in chromosomes are read by gigantic molecular machines called RNA polymerase holoenzymes, composed of dozens of different protein subunits. Fu works on understanding the three-dimensional workings of these multilayered protein machines using X-ray crystallography and other biophysical means.

"Three main strengths of Cornell attracted me here: The well-established experts in the field of gene transcription and regulation, with whom I anticipate interactions; the high caliber students; and MacCHESS, the renowned synchrotron X-ray facility. Having MacCHESS in my backyard offers tremendous convenience by removing difficulties and uncertainties associated with shipping our samples to remote sites."

-- Assistant Professor Jianhua Fu