Liviu Mirica

Postdoctoral Position Available! A postdoctoral position is available in the Mirica Group. Applicants should possess a Ph.D. in chemistry or a related field and should have experience in one of the following areas: inorganic chemistry, biochemistry, or organic chemistry. To apply for this position, please send your CV and names of three references to mirica@wuchem.wustl.edu

Our research program uses inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, and biological chemistry to address important metal-mediated processes with energy, biological, and medical relevance. An interdisciplinary, problem-based approach will be employed to synthesize and characterize new organic molecules and inorganic complexes, with the ultimate goal to tackle unsolved problems with broad implications to our society. Three main research areas will be pursued, which are expected to attract students and postdocs with different research interests and to provide them with a broad knowledge base applicable in most chemistry careers.

Non-Heme Iron Enzymes. Non-heme iron enzymes catalyze a wide range of oxidation and oxygenation reactions that have environmental, pharmaceutical, and medical significance. These enzymes, although exhibit a similar overall fold, exhibit different substrate specificity. This project aims to design and synthesize specific inhibitors of O₂-activating non-heme iron enzymes by taking advantage of the enzyme’s substrate specificity. While the proposed approach is applicable to any metalloenzyme, of particular interest are histone demethylases, a new class of enzymes that play an important role in regulating transcription and epigenetic inheritance. The developed inhibitors could be used as tools for studying the role of histone demethylases in cell function and development. Insights into the specificity of these enzymes will provide opportunities to advance therapeutics related to stem cell technology and cancer treatment.

Renewable Energy Catalysis. The global energy consumption is expected to at least double in the next fifty years due to population and economic growth. Given the dramatic increase of CO₂ levels from fossil fuel consumption, development of carbon-neutral energy production is greatly needed, with solar energy being the largest exploitable renewable energy resource. In this context, there is a large interest in developing molecular systems that can capture solar energy and used it to produce oxygen and hydrogen from water. This project regards the design, synthesis, and characterization of polymetallic complexes as potential catalysts for water oxidation. If successful, the developed catalysts capable of water oxidation can potentially be used in tandem with photovoltaic cells to construct artificial photosynthetic centers.

Amyloid b Peptides in Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease. Presently around five million people are diagnosed with AD in the US and the number is expected to reach fourteen million by 2050. The brains of patients with AD are characterized by the deposition of amyloid b (Ab) peptide plaques, which accumulate unusually high concentrations of copper, iron, and zinc. This project is directed toward the investigation of the interaction of transition metal ions with Ab peptides and the study of the role of metal ions in amyloid plaque and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation. Additionally, a novel bifunctional strategy will be used to develop inhibitors of Ab peptide aggregation, which could provide improved strategies for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of AD.

Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences (DBBS)

2008-present, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Washington University
2005-2008, NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Berkley