Education
Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
B.S. in Biochemistry, Saint Louis University
Research
Graham is a chemical biologist working as a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley for Dr. Jay Keasling. Graham earned his B.S. in Biochemistry from Saint Louis University during which he performed research in the lab of Prof. Brent Znosko and investigated the thermodynamic impact of non-standard RNA nucleotides on secondary structure and also programmed a searchable online database of RNA secondary structural motifs found in PDB models. Afterwards, Graham earned his Ph.D. under the auspices of Prof. Douglas A. Mitchell at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying the enzymology involved in the biosynthesis of ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide (RiPP) natural products and authored/co-authored 14 peer-reviewed journal articles. Notably, his work resulted in the first full reconstitution of a thiopeptide core biosynthetic pathway and also the discovery of a novel class of pyridine-containing macrocyclic RiPPs, the pyritides. As a new addition to the Keasling laboratory, Graham’s current research focus remains to-be-determined, but he hopes to employ and refine his chemical biology background towards the engineering of polyketide synthases.