Santa Clara University

Amelia A. Fuller

Clare Booth Luce
Assistant Professor

 

 aafuller@scu.edu

Alumni Science, 156
Phone: 408-554-4316
Fax:  408-554-7811

Fuller Research Lab

Degree Information
B.S. Davidson College, 2001
Ph.D. University of Michigan, 2006

Teaches
Organic Chemistry I  (Chem 31)  Syllabus
Organic Chemistry II (Chem 32)
Organic Chemistry III (Chem 33)

Specialty
organic, bioorganic chemistry

Research
Aims to create and optimize new methods to detect conformational changes and associative events in proteins and protein mimics. Through this work, we intend to develop technology that can be applied to the development of diagnostic agents, sensors, and therapeutics.

Awards

Clare Boothe Luce Professorship (2008-present)
NSF Grant: "CAREER: Expanding the Sturctural Complexity and Functional Repertoire of Sequence-Specific Polyamide Oligomers."  (2011-2016)

The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Faculty Start-up Award (2008-2012)
Research Corp for Science Advancement Cottrell College Science Award (2010-2012)
SCU Center for Science, Technology, and Soociety Faculty Research Grant (2010-2011)
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (2007-2008)

Recent Publications

Fuller, A. A.; Seidl, F. J.; Bruno, P. A.; Plescia, M. A.; Palla, K. S. Use of the environmentally sensitive fluorophore 4-N,N-dimethylamino-1,8-naphthalimide to study peptoid helix structures. Peptide Science 2011, 96, 627-638.

Pace, C. J.; Huang, Q.; Wang, F.; Palla, K. S.; Fuller, A. A.; Gao, J. A FlAsH-Tetracysteine Assay for Quantifying Orientation of Transmembrane a-Helices. Chembiochem 2011, 12, 1018-1022.

Fuller, A. A.; Du, D.; Liu, F.; Davoren, J. E.; Bhabha, G.; Kroon, G.; Case, D. A.; Dyson, H. J.; Powers, E. T.; Wipf, P.; Gruebele, M.; Kelly, J. W. "Evaluating b-Turn Mimics as b-Sheet Folding Nucleators." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2009

Aminoff, D.; Bochar, D. A.; Fuller, A. A.; Mapp, A. K.; Hollis, Showalter, H. D. H.; Kirchhoff, P. D. "Research into Selective Biomarkers of Erythrocyte Exposure to Organophosphorus Compounds." Analytical Biochemistry 2009, 392, 155-161.

Fuller, A. A.; Du, D.; Liu, F; Davoren, J. E.; Bhabha, G.; Kroon, G.; Case, D. A.; Dyson, H. J.; Powers, E. T.; Wipf, P.; Gruebele, M.; Kelly, J. W.; Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, 2009, 106, issue 27, pp. 11067-11072

Liu, F.; Du, D.; Fuller, A. A.; Davoren, J. E.; Wipf, P.; Kelly, J. W.; Gruebele, M. “An experimental survey of the transition between two-state and downhill protein folding scenarios.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A., 2008, 105, 2369-2374.

Jäger, M.; Dendle, G.; Fuller, A. A.; Kelly, J. W. “A Trp-Trp pair mediated stabilization of a WW domain” Protein Science 2007, 16, 2306-2313.

Fuller, A. A.; Chen, B.; Minter, A. R.; Mapp, A. K. “Succinct Synthesis of b-Amino Acids via Chiral Isoxazolines.” Journal of the American Chemical Society 2005, 127, 5376-5383.

A brief interview with Dr. Fuller

What attracted you to Santa Clara University?
I was impressed by the students I met with when I visited. They embrace the active research culture in the department to expand their learning outside of the classroom. Their successes reflect the commitment of the SCU faculty to integrate teaching and research.

Why did you choose to focus on your particular specialty/research project/field of interest?
I am interested in making molecules that are useful tools to probe biological processes. Bioorganic chemistry allows me to work on small molecule synthesis, but also to make use of those molecules in relevant biological contexts.

In your opinion, what is the most interesting development in chemistry in the past 10 years?
I am excited by the growing trend to focus on whole systems rather than their individual components as evidenced by the growing “-omics” fields, including genomics, proteomics, glycomics, etc. Many chemical tools have proved to be very useful in studying these systems.