Elizabeth Marie Nolan (born 1978) is an American chemist and associate professor at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

Early life and education

Nolan was born in

Niskayuna, New York Niskayuna is a town in Schenectady County, New York, United States. The population was 23,278 at the 2020 census. The town is located in the southeast part of the county, east of the city of Schenectady, and is the easternmost town in the county. ...

. She studied at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

, where she majored in chemistry and graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

in 2000. During her undergraduate studies she minored in music and worked with Robert Linck on computational chemistry. She studied the stereoelectronic effects in substituted alkanes. Nolan was a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

. She was awarded a Fulbright Program Scholarship and moved to France to study

siderophore Siderophores (Greek: "iron carrier") are small, high-affinity iron- chelating compounds that are secreted by microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. They help the organism accumulate iron. Although a widening range of siderophore functions is n ...

-iron complexes. Nolan moved to

for her graduate studies, where she was supervised by Stephen J. Lippard. She developed

small molecule In molecular biology and pharmacology, a small molecule or micromolecule is a low molecular weight (≤ 1000 daltons) organic compound that may regulate a biological process, with a size on the order of 1 nm. Many drugs are small molecules; ...

fluorescent sensors to monitor for zinc in

neurobiology Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

and mercury in

aqueous solution An aqueous solution is a solution in which the solvent is water. It is mostly shown in chemical equations by appending (aq) to the relevant chemical formula. For example, a solution of table salt, also known as sodium chloride (NaCl), in water ...

s. Together they filed a patent for

Fluorescein Fluorescein is an organic compound and dye based on the xanthene tricyclic structural motif, formally belonging to Triarylmethane dye, triarylmethine dyes family. It is available as a dark orange/red powder slightly soluble in water and alcohol. ...

-based metal sensors. Nolan was a postdoctoral scientist at the

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

, working with Christopher T. Walsh on the biosynthetic assembly of

microcin Microcins are very small bacteriocins, composed of relatively few amino acids. For this reason, they are distinct from their larger protein cousins. The classic example is microcin V, of ''Escherichia coli''. Subtilosin A is another bacterioci ...

E492m.

Microcin Microcins are very small bacteriocins, composed of relatively few amino acids. For this reason, they are distinct from their larger protein cousins. The classic example is microcin V, of ''Escherichia coli''. Subtilosin A is another bacterioci ...

E492m is an antibiotic peptide that can target

Gram-negative bacteria Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that, unlike gram-positive bacteria, do not retain the Crystal violet, crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. Their defining characteristic is that their cell envelo ...

which express

transporters. She was awarded a $2.5 million

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

grant in 2010 to study

antibacterial peptides Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), also called host defence peptides (HDPs) are part of the innate immune response found among all classes of life. Fundamental differences exist between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells that may represent targets for ...

and zinc in innate immunity. In 2011 she contributed to the book ''Letters to a Young Chemist.''

Research and career

Nolan was appointed as an assistant professor at the department of chemistry at the

in 2014. She explores the coordination chemistry of metal ions in biological systems; in particular how proteins destroy microbes by denying them metal nutrients. She looks at the peptides and metalloproteins that are involved in mammalian immune response. Her current focus is on

calprotectin Calprotectin is a multiprotein complex, complex of the mammalian proteins S100A8 and S100A9. Synonym, Other names for calprotectin include MRP8-MRP14, calgranulin A and B, cystic fibrosis antigen, L1, 60BB antigen, and 27E10 antigen. The proteins e ...

s and how they bind metals. She used

magnetic circular dichroism Magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) is the differential absorption of left and right circularly polarized (LCP and RCP) light, induced in a sample by a strong magnetic field oriented parallel to the direction of light propagation. MCD measurements ...

to study the binding of

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

to human

. Her group look to understand how

Neuron A neuron (American English), neurone (British English), or nerve cell, is an membrane potential#Cell excitability, excitable cell (biology), cell that fires electric signals called action potentials across a neural network (biology), neural net ...

al cells process and removes

SOD1 Superoxide dismutase u-Zn'' also known as superoxide dismutase 1 or hSod1 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''SOD1'' gene, located on chromosome 21. SOD1 is one of three human superoxide dismutases. It is implicated in apoptosis, fami ...

point mutants. Nolan looks to design drugs to fight bacterial infections. They study how immunity peptides that are encoded by the gene clusters that biosynthesize antibiotics which use metal ion transporters protect the organisms that produce them. She proposes that hijacking the

uptake pathways could allow new prevention and treatment against diseases. She worked with Manuela Raffatellu at

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

to develop a new immunisation strategy against

salmonella ''Salmonella'' is a genus of bacillus (shape), rod-shaped, (bacillus) Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two known species of ''Salmonella'' are ''Salmonella enterica'' and ''Salmonella bongori''. ''S. enterica'' ...

. They target

s, a molecule that

secretes to scavenge iron. Immunisation against

s led to the production of antibodies that reduced the growth of

and other bacteria. She is on the editorial board of ''Cell Chemical Biology''.

Patents

* 2009

-based metal sensors * 2015

Enterobactin Enterobactin (also known as enterochelin) is a high affinity siderophore that acquires iron for microbial systems. It is primarily found in Gram-negative bacteria, such as ''Escherichia coli'' and ''Salmonella typhimurium''. Enterobactin is the s ...

conjugates and uses thereof * 2016 Siderophore-based immunization against gram-negative bacteria

Awards and honours

* 2010

New Innovator Award * 2011

Searle Scholar The Searle Scholars Program is a career development award made annually to support 15 young faculty in biomedical research and chemistry at US universities and research centers. The goal of the award is to support to exceptional young scientists wh ...

* 2014

National Science Foundation CAREER Award The National Science Foundation CAREER award is the most prestigious award presented by the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the United States Federal Government to support junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through rese ...

* 2014 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar * 2016

Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry The Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry was established in 1934. Consisting of a bronze medal and honorarium, its purpose is to stimulate fundamental research in biological chemistry by scientists not over thirty-eight years of age. The Award i ...

* 2016

School of Science Teaching Prize * 2017

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

Denkewalter Lecture * 2017

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States federal government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. T ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolan, Elizabeth 1978 births Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni Smith College alumni American women biochemists Living people 21st-century American women scientists Chemists from New York (state) Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers 21st-century American women academics