Thayumana "Soma"sundaram | Homepage

Director, X-Ray Facility (XRF)

Main Responsibilites:

I am responsible for the day to day operation of the X-Ray Facility including teaching graduate students, post-docs, and staff how to collect, process and interpret macromolecular x-ray diffraction and x-ray scattering data.

I accompany Lab members to SER-CAT beamline in Advanced Photon Source and NSLS beamlines at Brookhaven National Laboratory and MacCHESS at Cornell University for synchrotron data collection and processing.

I maintain and upgrade the XRF Core Instruments and computer Software and Hardware as well as X-Ray Facility website. I schedule our beam-time at SER-CAT beamline.

I serve as the designated safety officer for Kasha Laboratory and co-ordinate safety related activites such as training for Lab members with FSU Safety Office. Beginning in 2006, I co-maintain the IMB Website. I am a member of the American Crystallographic Society and serve as a member of KLB Beautification Committee.

' The putative catalytic bases have, at most, an accessory role in the mechanism of arginine kinase ', P.S. Pruett, A. Azzi, S.A. Clark, M.S. Yousef, J.L. Gattis, T. Somasundaram, W.R. Ellington and M. S. Chapman. J Biol Chem 278(29), 26952-57 (2003). [DOI Link].
' An atomic resolution structure for human fibroblast growth factor 1 ', Matthew J. Bernett, T. Somasundaram, and M. Blaber. Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics 57(3), 626-634 (2004). [DOI Link].
' Conversion of type I 4:6 to 3:5 ß-turn types in human acidic fibroblast growth factor ', Jihun Lee, Vikash Kumar Dubey , T. Somasundaram, and M. Blaber. Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics 62(3), 686-697 (2006). [DOI Link].
' Spackling the crack: stabilizing human fibroblast growth factor-1 by targeting N- and C- terminus β-strand interactions ', V.K. Dubey, J. Lee, T. Somasundaram, S. Blaber and M. Blaber. J Mol Biol 371(1), 256-268 (2007). [DOI Link].