Naima G. Sharaf

Dr. Naima Gabriela Sharaf graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor's degree in chemistry. She earned her Ph.D. in Dr. Angela Gronenborn's lab at the University of Pittsburgh, where she investigated inhibitor-induced conformational changes in HIV-1 reverse transcriptase using fluorine solution NMR. She completed her postdoctoral training at Caltech in Dr. Doug Rees' lab, where she used x-ray crystallography and single-particle cryo-EM to characterize the structure and function of the Neisseria meningitidis methionine ABC transport system. This study sparked Dr. Sharaf's current interest in lipoproteins, specifically their roles in bacterial physiology and potential in vaccine design. The Sharaf Lab conducts research that bridges biochemistry, biology, microbiology, and immunology in order to translate lipoprotein research into therapeutics.