Dr. Lorna Smith

Biography

Lorna J Smith is a Professor of Chemistry and a Peacock Tutorial Fellow at St. Hilda's College, University of Oxford. Her research focuses on characterizing both native and non-native protein folds, which is crucial for understanding disease states related to protein misfolding, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. She employs a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches, prominently using molecular dynamics simulations and high-resolution NMR techniques. Smith's work seeks to elucidate the factors influencing protein structure and folding dynamics, and she recognizes the functional roles of native folded proteins in biological systems. Her current projects include studying the effects of substrate binding dynamics on enzyme lambda lysozyme and utilizing molecular dynamics simulations to explore changes in lipid transfer proteins. A long-term collaborator with Wilfred van Gunsteren and his team at ETH Zurich, she has held several fellowships at the Oxford Centre for Molecular Sciences and has a background as a Royal Society University Research Fellow. Lorna completed her BA and D.Phil. in Chemistry at the University of Oxford, working under Chris Dobson to utilize 3D NMR techniques for protein structure determination.

Research Interests