Student featured in newsletter

One of Suren Tatulian’s recent graduates, Pranav Garg, was featured in the Biophysical Society Newsletter. Garg graduated this summer with an MS in Biotechnology. Below is part of the feature. You can read the entire piece here.

What initially attracted you to biophysics?

When Dr. Tatulian told me about this project that he has the grant for, it immediately caught my attention and I decided to make it my masters thesis. Physics has always been my strong point since [my] school days, and characterizing a protein using cool graphs and equations altogether pulled me towards this area.

What specific areas are you studying?

My area is membrane biophysics where I am trying to characterize the physical parameters of a pro-apototic protein on the mitochondrial membrane by the means of artificial lipid vesicles.

What is your current research project?

Our current aim is to determine if the C-terminal helix itself is a sufficient structural unit that possesses the capabilities of membrane binding and pore formation and also to elucidate the biophysical characteristics of membrane binding mode, membrane destabilization, and pore formation of a 20-amino acid peptide that corresponds to the C-terminal α-helix of a pro-apoptotic protein called Bax.

What do you hope to do after graduation?

I have already been accepted into the MBA program at the College of Business Administration here at the University of Central Florida, and I plan to pursue a second masters immediately after I graduate with this MS (thesis).

If you could give one piece of advice to someone just starting their undergraduate science career, what would it be?

Biophysics is an interesting fi eld that not only allows you to work on conventional biological systems/assays but also on new equipment, machines, software, and programs. In all biophysics is a true blend of all the natural sciences.