Troy C. Messina

Associate Professor of Physics and Biophysics (since 2007)
Gus S. Wortham Chair of Engineering (since 2008)
University of Texas at Austin, B.S.,1996; M.A., 1999, Ph.D., 2002

C.V.

curriculum vitae

Contact Information

Teaching

Research Project Flavors

Centenary students: Contact me in person or by email if you want to work in my lab!

Professional Experience

  • Associate Professor of Physics, Centenary College of Louisiana, 2007-present
  • NIH NRSA Ruth L. Kirschstein Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, 2003-2007
  • Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Department of Physics, Princeton University, 2003
  • Graduate Research Assistant, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Physics, 1995-2002
  • Semiconductor Research Intern, International 300 mm Initiative/International Sematech, Austin, TX, 1997-2000
  • Contract Scientist, Xidex Corporation, Austin, TX, 1999-2000

Personal Interests

Research Foci

  • Protein Structure/Function

    Our group uses a variety of techniques to better understand how proteins' chemical and physical makeup allow them to perform very specific functions. Sometimes energetics allow proteins to reconfigure themselves in very deleterious ways. This can cause big problems like amyloid formation implicated in diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and Type-II diabetes. Our hope is to understand the full range of structure for proteins by purposefully manipulating them through chemical and physical interactions. We primarily use fluorescence and computer simulations, but sometimes other tools are necessary to get a full understanding.

    paper on glucose/galactose binding protein
    supplemental info

  • Model/Analysis Development

    Many physical approaches to biology are new or at least being analyzed in more quantitative ways than in the past. This often requires someone to develop methods to properly deal with data. Here is one example of how we have done this using probability to develop hidden Markov model analysis techniques.

    Hidden Markov Model Analysis of Multichromophore Photobleaching

  • Past and Present Students
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    Matt Blam at ACS (Anaheim) 2011
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    Francis Pettito at the Protein Society (Stockholm) 2011
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    Brandi Candler at SPS (Centenary) 2011
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    Jessica Garza at ACS (Salt Lake) 2009
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    James Nolan at SPS (Rhodes) 2008
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    Roland Womack & Richard Lopez at SPS (Rhodes) 2008
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    Marco Reyes in the lab 2008

Recent Publications

  1. A. Otto, G. Q. Butcher, and T. C. Messina, "Design plans for an inexpensive tail flick analgesia meter," submitted to Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education (JUNE) Fall 2011.

  2. C. W. Miller, M. D. Chabot, T. C. Messina, "A Student's Guide to Literature Searching Using Online Databases," Am. J. Phys. 77 (2009).

  3. T. C. Messina and D. S. Talaga, "Free energy landscapes remodeled by ligand binding," Biophys. J. 93 579-585 (2007).

  4. T. C. Messina, C. W. Miller, and J. T. Markert, "Observation of steric quenching of the switchable mirror effect in Y1-zSczHx," Phys. Rev. B 75 104109-10411 (2007).

  5. T. C. Messina, H. Kim, J. T. Giurleo, D. S. Talaga, "Hidden Markov Model Analysis of Multichromophore Photobleaching," J. Phys. Chem. B 110, 16366-16376 (2006).

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