Awarded in 2009
Home Department: Applied Physics
Faculty Advisors: James Spudich (Biochemistry), Alexander Dunn (Chemical Engineering), Euan Ashley (Cardiovascular Medicine), and Sebastian Doniach (Applied Physics)

Research Title: Single molecule studies of familial human cardiomyopathies 

Research Description: Hypertrophic (HCM) and dilated (DCM) cardiomyopathies are the two most common genetic heart diseases. HCM affects nearly 0.2% of the general population. They often result from single point mutations in sarcomeric proteins especially in β-cardiac myosin heavy chain (β-cMHC), a molecular engine for muscle contraction, yet the molecular mechanism of how the mutations cause the diseases is not clearly understood. The goal of Jongmin’s project is to understand the molecular mechanism of the disease at a single molecular level by characterizing the change in function of β-cMHC in the force generation role by using an optical trap.

WHERE IS HE NOW?

Jong Min is a principal data scientist at Roche Sequencing Solutions, Santa Clara.