HAMEL LAB HOME PAGE

PATRICE P. HAMEL Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics and Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Associate Investigator of the Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Institute, Member of the Institute of Mitochondrial Biology, Post-doctoral scholar, IBPC (France) and UCLA. Post-Doctoral Awards: Paul Boyer Award for Excellence in Post-doctoral Research, American Heart Association post-doctoral fellowship and Muscular Dystrophy Association Research Development Award. Ph.D., University of Paris-Sud, Orsay, France

The Hamel laboratory is located on the top floor of the Aronoff Laboratory in the main campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. My group is interested in the biogenesis of the energy-transducing membrane systems, in particular those evolved in mitochondria and chloroplasts. We are using the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the vascular plant Arabidopsis thaliana and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as model systems for our studies and molecular genetics and biochemical approaches. We are focusing on elucidating the assembly of mitochondrial complex I, a multimeric enzyme involved in respiration. Complex I-linked diseases are the most prevalent forms of mitochondrial diseases in humans and mutations in yet-to-be discovered assembly factors account for most of Complex I-based pathologies. Our effort focus on the discovery of novel complex I assembly factors (in collaboration with Prof. C. Remacle, University of Liege, Belgium). Our laboratory is also investigating the pathways controlling disulfide bond formation and reduction in the lumen of the chloroplast. This is a new development in the field of organelle biology as the thylakoid lumen was thought to be a vacant compartment. The molecular identity of the redox components defining such pathways, their relevant targets of action and how they control photosynthesis are the experimental questions we are currently addressing. More recently, we became interested in the development of Chlamydomonas for the production of biohydrogen as a renewable source of energy (in collaboration with Dr. Maria Ghirardi, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Colorado).

Ph.D. candidates interested in our research should apply to one of the following graduate programs: Molecular Genetics, Ohio State Biochemistry Program, Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology, Microbiology or Biophysics.

Contact information:

582 Aronoff Laboratory, 318 West 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210 Phone: (614) 292-3817  Fax: (614) 292-6345  E-mail: hamel.16@osu.edu