Matthew DeLisa
Assistant Professor
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
The primary focus of Matthew DeLisa’s research is the analysis and engineering of biological machines to help solve problems that cannot be solved using natural systems, and includes functional genomics, protein engineering, and molecular biotechnology.
This work has proven to be particularly challenging for scientists and engineers, in part because complex biological assemblies operate on a broad range of organizational length scales and in both a hierarchical and nested manner. Since biological machines have discrete functions that arise from interactions between the molecules (protein, DNA, RNA) that compose the machine, there are opportunities for using protein engineering as a means to alter cellular "machines" and structures for targeted applications.
DeLisa’s goal is to build an integrated understanding of the design principles that govern the structure and function of protein machines and how their function affects the behavior of cells and organisms. Toward this end, DeLisa’s research group combines protein engineering with genetic and molecular biology approaches to address fundamental issues related to protein transport, protein folding and solubility, and protein synthesis.
"We use these tools to dissect and engineer complex protein machines, which represent any complex in a living cell that carries out a specific function, such as pumps, assemblers, or motors," says DeLisa. "We look at the cell as a collection of protein machines."
Protein ensembles can be altered for a variety of different purposes. One example is enabling the expansion of the limited types of amino acids used by ribosomes, which make proteins in a cell. Another area being examined by DeLisa and his research group is a novel protein pump, which delivers folded protein from one area of a cell to another or into a different cell. The applications for this include using the pump to efficiently produce high-value therapeutic proteins or blocking the pump as a means to prevent pathogens from delivering their poisons to a host cell.
With the chemical engineering school undergoing some changes by adding emphasis in biomolecular engineering and delving into biological-related research, DeLisa’s teaching interest will concentrate in developing undergraduate and graduate courses that integrate biochemical and metabolic engineering.
DeLisa did his postdoctoral work at the University of Texas, Austin, and earned his PhD from the University of Maryland in chemical engineering. This is his first faculty position.
An avid bicyclist, he is on a local cycling team and continues to ride competitively.
