Eric Oldfield

Abstract

Angewandte Chemie International EditionVolume 55, Issue 45 p. 13924-13924 Author ProfileFree Access Eric Oldfield First published: 30 May 2016 https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201604489AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Graphical Abstract “If I were a car I would be a Ferrari 288 GTO. My first experiment was really, really dangerous. ...” This and more about Eric Oldfield can be found on page 13924. Eric Oldfield The author presented on this page has published 10 articles in Angewandte Chemie in the last 10 years, including: “Moenomycin Biosynthesis: Structure and Mechanism of Action of the Prenyltransferase MoeN5”: L. Zhang et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 4716; Angew. Chem. 2016, 128, 4794. The work of E. Oldfield has been featured on the cover of Angewandte Chemie: “Structure and Function of a “Head-to-Middle” Prenyltransferase: Lavandulyl Diphosphate Synthase”: M. Liu, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 4721; Angew. Chem. 2016, 128, 4799. Date of birth: May 23, 1948 Position: Harriet A. Harlin Professor of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign E-mail: eoldfiel@illinois.edu Homepage: http://feh.scs.uiuc.edu Education: 1969 BSc, University of Bristol 1972 PhD with Prof. Dr. Dennis Chapman, University of Sheffield 1972–1974 Postdoc and EMBO Fellow with Prof. Dr. Adam Allerhand, Indiana University 1974–1975 Visiting scientist with Prof. Dr. John S. Waugh, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Awards: 1995 RSC Award in Spectroscopy; 2009 RSC Award in Biophysical Chemistry; 2011 Avanti Award in Lipids, Biophysical Society Research: Antibiotics; anticancer drugs; isoprenoids; metalloproteins Hobbies: Running (and jogging …); swimming; gardening If I were a car I would be a Ferrari 288 GTO. My first experiment was really, really dangerous. I am waiting for the day when someone will discover the origin of life (I'm not holding my breath). The biggest challenge facing scientists is the Republican Party. Chemistry is fun because you get paid to do what you would pay to do. My favorite drink is “PG Tips” (tea from Brooke Bond [Unilever]). The most significant historic event of the past 100 years was World War II. In a spare hour I read the New Yorker. I advise my students to work hard (they do) and keep a good lab notebook (not so much). My favorite way to spend a holiday is on Bora-Bora, Moorea, South Beach (FL), or in a National Park. The secret of being a successful scientist is persistence, genes, serendipity, and the best schools. My science “heroes” are Newton, Pauling, Woodward, and Pines. My favorite painter is Joan Miró. My favorite book is A History of Western Philosophy (Bertrand Russell). The natural talent I would like to be gifted with would be to be a big wave surfer, or really clever. My 5 top papers: References 1“Antiinfectives targeting enzymes and the proton motive force”: X. Feng et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2015, 112, E 7073. (Many common drugs, including TB drugs, function at least in part by acting as protonophore uncouplers.) 2“A combination therapy for KRAS-driven lung adenocarcinomas using lipophilic bisphosphonates and rapamycin”: Y. Xia et al., Sci. Transl. Med. 2014, 6, 263ra161. (An interesting approach to lung cancer therapy.) 3“A Cholesterol Biosynthesis Inhibitor Blocks Staphylococcus aureus Virulence”: C. I. Liu, G. Y. Liu, Y. Song, F. Yin, M. E. Hensler, W. Y. Jeng, V. Nizet, A. H. Wang, E. Oldfield, Science 2008, 319, 1391. (An alternate approach to treating staph infections by inhibiting virulence factor formation.) 4“Secondary and Tertiary Structural Effects on Protein NMR Chemical Shifts: An ab Initio Approach”: A. C. de Dios, J. G. Pearson, E. Oldfield, Science 1993, 260, 1491. (Solved the 13C chemical shift problem in proteins that we identified 20 years earlier.) 5“Deuteron Resonance: A Novel Approach to the Study of Hydrocarbon Chain Mobility in Membrane Systems”: E. Oldfield, D. Chapman, W. Derbyshire, FEBS Lett. 1971, 16, 102. (Introduced the 2H NMR method for studying the dynamic structures of lipids and their interactions with other molecules.) Volume55, Issue45November 2, 2016Pages 13924-13924 ReferencesRelatedInformation