Research Support Office Research Advancement Division. Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
| TEL | +81-42-367-5944 |
|---|---|
| FAX | +81-42-367-5946 |
This program is supported by MEXT’s scientific technology human resource development fee grant, "Program to Disseminate Tenure Tracking System".
Home > Introduction of our tenure-track faculties > Vavricka Christopher
Vavricka Christopher
| Affiliation | Institute of Engineering |
|---|---|
| Division | Division of Biotechnology and Life Science |
| Research field | Medicinal Enzyme Engineering |
| Keyword(S) | Enzyme engineering, In silico enzyme design, Biosynthesis, Synthetic biology |
| Url | http://web.tuat.ac.jp/~enzyme-engineering/ |
| Research experience | ･Oct. 2009-Oct. 2012: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Microbiology, Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
|---|---|
| Educational background | ･Aug. 2000-Dec. 2004: B.S. Student, Virginia Tech, College of Science, Department of Psychology |
| Awards | * The latest information is shown at the member's website. |
| Selected papers and publications | * The latest information is shown at the member's website. Vavricka, C.J., Hasunuma, T., Kondo, A. (2019/07) Dynamic metabolomics for engineering biology: accelerating learning cycles for bioproduction, Trends in Biotechnology, 38, 68-82. Vavricka, C.J., Yoshida, T., Kuriya, Y., Takahashi, S., Ogawa, T., Ono, F., Agari, K., Kiyota, H., Li, J., Ishii, J., Tsuge, K., Minami, H., Araki, M., Hasunuma, T., Kondo, A. (2019/05) Mechanism-based tuning of insect 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde synthase for synthetic bioproduction of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, Nature Communications, 10, 2015. Vavricka, C.J.*, Muto, C., Hasunuma, T., Kimura, Y., Araki, M., Wu, Y., Gao, G.F., Ohrui, H., Izumi, M., Kiyota, H.* (2017/08) Synthesis of sulfo-sialic acid analogues: potent neuraminidase inhibitors in regards to anomeric functionality, Scientific Reports, 7, 8239. (*corresponding authors) Vavricka, C.J.#, Liu, Y.#, Kiyota, H., Sriwilaijaroen, N., Qi, J., Tanaka, Y., Wu, Y., Li, Q., Li, Y., Yan, J., Suzuki, Y., Gao, G.F. (2013/02) Influenza neuraminidase operates via a nucleophilic mechanism and can be targeted by covalent inhibitors, Nature Communications, 4, 1491. (#first authors) |
Computationally-driven enzyme engineering and metabolic engineering can now enable the sustainable production of virtually any desired chemical product. This synthetic biology research trend has exploded as a future hope to improve the production of industrial chemicals, with many environmental and economic advantages over traditional chemical methods. Accordingly, my lab will develop computational approaches for the discovery and engineering of specialized enzymes that can extend metabolic pathways to produce valuable chemicals. Some of our target compounds include carbohydrate analogues and aromatic metabolites including plant alkaloids.
I selected this tenure track program because it provides an opportunity to establish a world-class biotechnology laboratory in a top Japanese University. Most importantly, the students at TUAT are very hard working, talented, and intelligent, and so I would like to help them to become the next generation of scientists and engineers.
1) Develop valuable biosynthesis technology to sustain and grow my laboratory
2) Develop and apply in silico enzyme design methods
3) Train students that can achieve their career goals
4) Make new breakthroughs in the basic understanding of enzyme biochemistry
5) Develop new medicines that can impact major diseases and will make it to the clinic
