Tom Schmidlin

Mentor: Brian Kennedy/Valerie Daggett
Box: 357350
Phone: 206-616-8084
Email: tschmidl@u.washington.edu
http://depts.washington.edu/daglab/group_members.html

---

Antioxidant defenses are postulated to be important in aging and disease prevention. One important antioxidant is mitochondrial CuZn Superoxide Dismutase, also called SOD2. Tom Schmidlin is currently investigating SOD2 mutations that have been implicated in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This disease is characterized by progressive motor neuron degeneration, eventually leading to death. He uses molecular dynamics simulations to determine the structural differences that may be attributed to the mutation, and yeast to investigate pathways that may be involved in the human phenotype.