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What I do

I'm a Ph.D. student working in the metallo-protein group at Leiden University, the Netherlands. The group, under supervision of Prof. G.W. Canters, is working in the field of bioinorganic chemistry. Main research areas include the study of electron transfer, copper metabolism, dynamics of protein interaction/structure and enzymology.

I personally work on the type-3 copper protein tyrosinase. This protein is mainly responsible for the formation of melanin pigments which determine, for example, your hair and skin color. The enzyme contains a magnetically coupled binuclear copper center with very peculiar properties. I use mainly kinetic and spectroscopic techniques to obtain a better insight into the structure and the mechanism of the protein. The enzyme is already known for a long time, which is exemplified by the fact that this protein was the main subject of the graduation work of Isaac Asimov! It's a matter of fact, his doctoral dissertation on the autoinactivation kinetics of tyrosinase is No. 1 on his rather impressive bibliography.

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