Mark McClintock, Senior Investigator Scientist

 

I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Colorado – Boulder in 2008, where I joined Marcelo Sousa’s group to investigate structural mechanisms of retinal phototransduction by calcium sensor proteins. Following graduation, I worked at Harvard Medical School as a research assistant to develop the application of DNA nanotechnology to NMR-based structure determination of transmembrane proteins in the labs of William Shih and James Chou. While at HMS, I became interested in the mechanisms by which cells use the cytoskeleton and associated motor proteins to organise intracellular components, and how subverting these mechanisms leads to neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disease. In 2010, I began my Ph.D. at Harvard University with Sam Reck-Peterson, where I exploited the fungal model system, Aspergillus nidulans, to study microtubule motor-based dynamics and trafficking of cytotoxic protein aggregates. After earning my Ph.D. in 2016, I continued to cultivate my interest in mechanisms of microtubule-based transport by joining Simon Bullock’s group at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology as a postdoc, where I use single-molecule imaging techniques to investigate mechanisms of dynein activation and regulation in reconstituted motor-adaptor-cargo complexes. I recently completed work on a BBSRC-funded grant and am now a Science Investigator Scientist in the group.

Email: markmc ‘at’ mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk