Tatyana Polenova is a professor in chemistry and biochemistry at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

. She is the editor-in-chief of the '' Journal of Magnetic Resonance'' since 2021. Her research interest involves using

solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) is a spectroscopy technique used to characterize atomic-level structure and dynamics in solid materials. ssNMR spectra are broader due to nuclear spin interactions which can be categorized as dipolar ...

, combined with computational and other biophysical methods, to understand the structure, dynamics, and function of complex

macromolecular assemblies In molecular biology, the term macromolecular assembly (MA) refers to massive chemical structures such as viruses and non-biologic nanoparticles, cellular organelles and cell membrane, membranes and ribosomes, etc. that are complex mixtures of p ...

, both biological and inorganic.

Education and career

Polenova obtained her B.S. at the

Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

in 1992. She obtained her Ph.D. at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1997 and continued her postdoctoral research with

Ann McDermott Ann E. McDermott is an American biophysicist who uses nuclear magnetic resonance to study the structure, function, and dynamics of proteins in native-like environments. She is currently the Esther Breslow Professor of Biological Chemistry and Chai ...

. She was appointed to assistant professor at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

of the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

in 1999, and moved to the University of Delaware in 2003, where she achieved full professor in 2011. She is the director of the

NIH 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 ...

- COBRE "Molecular Design of Advanced Biomaterials" since 2014.

Research

Polenova uses

nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a Spectroscopy, spectroscopic technique based on re-orientation of Atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei with non-zero nuclear sp ...

(NMR), specifically solid-state NMR, to investigate the structure and dynamics of biopolymers and inorganic materials. Her research focuses on the protein-based

capsid A capsid is the protein shell of a virus, enclosing its genetic material. It consists of several oligomeric (repeating) structural subunits made of protein called protomers. The observable 3-dimensional morphological subunits, which may or m ...

assemblies of

HIV-1 The subtypes of HIV include two main subtypes, known as HIV type 1 (HIV-1) and HIV type 2 (HIV-2). These subtypes have distinct genetic differences and are associated with different epidemiological patterns and clinical characteristics. HIV-1 e ...

, the most common strain of the virus that causes

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. She has also investigated protein assemblies that are associated with

microtubule Microtubules are polymers of tubulin that form part of the cytoskeleton and provide structure and shape to eukaryotic cells. Microtubules can be as long as 50 micrometres, as wide as 23 to 27 nanometer, nm and have an inner diameter bet ...

s, important in the

cytoskeleton The cytoskeleton is a complex, dynamic network of interlinking protein filaments present in the cytoplasm of all cells, including those of bacteria and archaea. In eukaryotes, it extends from the cell nucleus to the cell membrane and is compos ...

, where breakdown of these assemblies can lead to various diseases. To enable new insight on complex systems, she develops new solid-state NMR methods for fast

magic angle spinning In solid-state NMR spectroscopy, magic-angle spinning (MAS) is a technique routinely used to produce better resolution NMR spectra. MAS NMR consists in spinning the sample (usually at a frequency of 1 to 130 kHz) at the magic angle θm (ca ...

(40–110 kHz),

19F NMR Fluorine-19 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (fluorine NMR or 19F NMR) is an analytical technique used to detect and identify fluorine-containing compounds. 19F is an important nucleus for NMR spectroscopy because of its Receptivity (NMR ...

, and signal enhancement using

dynamic nuclear polarization Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is one of several hyperpolarization methods developed to enhance the sensitivity of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. While an essential analytical tool with applications in several fields, NMR’ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polenova, Tatyana 1970 births Living people 21st-century American women American chemists American biochemists University of Delaware faculty American women academics Columbia University alumni Hunter College faculty Moscow State University alumni