Devon Martin

Education

  • B.S. Chemical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2015
  • B.S. Biochemistry, University of New England, 2017

Biosketch

I’ve always had an interest in scientific research and the pursuit of knowledge. Part of what sparked my interest is seeing people take pharmaceuticals and show a distinct change for the better. This led me to wonder what exactly was going on in the body after taking them, leading to my interest in drug-protein interactions. At the same time I questioned if there was a way to make these drugs that is more efficient and treats more issues. Due to this I began to pursue engineering and, eventually, computational modeling. While pursuing my biochemistry degree I had the good fortune to work in Dr. Olgun Guvench’s lab on a protein-drug interaction and modeling project. It was here that I was introduced to GSBSE and was quickly convinced the program would be a fit for me.

Research Interests

  • Computational chemistry
  • Small molecule-protein interactions

Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1A2 Inhibitor Design This project was part of a collaboration between the Guvench lab at UNE and the Rhyzov lab at MMCRI. At UNE I modeled the protein ALDH1A2 and it’s substrate retinal. This was followed by a computational library scan and drug docking simulation. The results of this were brought to MMCRI were I performed a bioluminescence assay to validate the efficacy of the compounds and further narrow the list of possible inhibitors.

Iduronic Acid Conformation and Ring Puckering Analysis I performed high precision modeling of the free energy of iduronic acid through the use of ring crossing reaction coordinates. The coordinates at every time point were transformed to Cremer-Pople coordinates and analyzed for conformation.

Glycosaminoglycan Disaccharide Conformational Analysis I performed high precision free energy modeling on the glycosidic linkages of five glycosaminoglycan disaccharide units (chondroitin sulfate, dermatan sulfate, keratan sulfate, and two forms of heparin sulfate).

Dissertation Mentor

https://gsbse.umaine.edu/people/olgun-guvench/