Chemistry faculty, students making international waves through ground-breaking heart research
Assistant Professor Christopher Johnson (left to right), MSU graduate students Bailey Herring and Afsar Alam, MSU undergraduate students Kelsie Elmoore and Garrett Knotts, at the International Society for Heart Research World Congress, Berlin, Germany, in June 2022.
Mississippi State University Assistant Professor Christopher Johnson and a group of his students have been taking their ground-breaking heart research from the West Coast to Europe in 2022, introducing researchers world-wide to new ideas that improve the understanding of how electrical currents signal heartbeats and the implications it has for both healthy and sick individuals.
MSU graduate student Bailey Herring -- a chemistry student working jointly with Johnson on structural biology and MSU Chemistry Professor Steven Gwaltney with quantum mechanics -- focuses her studies on the proteins in the heart.
“We are building a model of the sodium channel that will help people better understand what it looks like and how it functions inside a heart cell,” Herring said. “To do this we are computing the chemistry that occurs between protein, water, lipids and cholesterol to investigate how these influence the structure and function. This will improve our understanding of the electrical currents that signal a heartbeat for both healthy people and sick people with heart problems.”
Herring said her research collaboration with Gwaltney and Johnson has allowed her the opportunity to build skills in quantum mechanics and structural biology that apply to the heart.
“This past year I have had incredible opportunities to share my ongoing research with heart scientists around the U.S. and Europe,” said Herring. “During these times I was interacting with other graduate students, professors, and other scientists who are all interested in understanding how the heart works and what can cause disease.”
Herring traveled with Johnson and other MSU students in 2022 to present research in San Francisco and Berlin. Plans for 2023 conferences include trips to San Diego, Switzerland and Portugal.
“I love the supportive collegial environment of Mississippi State and the hands-on, real-world application of my work. I am super excited about my emerging career and the future possibilities of the MSU chemistry department,” Herring said.
Johnson said Herring has leveraged persistence and patience to build an “all-atom” model of a sodium channel. “We are so proud of Bailey for developing a strong work ethic and her early contributions to the scientific community.”
Part of MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences, more information about the Department of Chemistry is available at www.chemistry.msstate.edu.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.
Sarah Nicholas | College of Arts and Sciences
