Research in the Beese Lab is focused on understanding fundamental biological processes in atomic detail. A multi-disciplinary strategy is employed using macromolecular X-ray crystallography to determine high resolution, three-dimensional images of proteins and appropriate complexes. The structural information is combined with biochemical, biophysical, genetic, and computational analyses to address questions central to cancer biology. In addition to generating basic biological insights, this approach may facilitate the development of new therapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer and other diseases.

The Beese Lab has research interests in the structural mechanisms underlying DNA replication and repair, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and microbial pathogenesis; X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy; structure-based drug design; protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid interactions, enzyme mechanisms, chemical biology, protein structure, and function. Learn More.