Faculty
Maria C. Nagan, Professor of Practice
Associate Dean for Curriculum, College of Arts and Sciences
B.S. 1997, Grinnell College (Grinnell, IA)
Ph.D. 2001, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
435 Chemistry, 631-632-5793
Email: maria.nagan@stonybrook.edu
RESEARCH
The Nagan lab employs computational methods to understand how chemical functional groups affect RNA structure and recognition. Dr. Nagan's lab made entirely of undergraduate and high school students.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
Dr. Nagan is the director for two undergraduate research programs:
•Chemistry REU Site - supported by NSF CHE-2050541
•Velay Program - supported by the Panaphil Foundation
OTHER ROLES
ACS COMP Co-chair Programming, Amber Software Executive Committee, Mercury Executive Committee
AWARDS
Godfrey Excellence in Teaching Award, Fellow of the American Chemical Society, McNair Mentor Hall of Fame, Walker and Doris Allen Fellowship for Faculty Excellence
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
1. Anderson, K., Arradondo, S., Ball, K.A., Bruce, C., Gomez, M.A., He, K., Hendrickson,
H., Madison, L., Ringer McDonald, A., Nagan, M.C., Scott, C.E., Soto, P., Tomlinson,
A., Varner, M. and Parish, C. “The Impacts of the Molecular Education and Research
Consortium in Undergraduate Computational Chemistry on the Careers of Women in Computational
Chemistry” J. Chem. Inf. Model, 2022,62(24), 6316-6322. doi.org/10.1021/acs.jcim.2c00566
2. Maddula, V., Rotenberg, S. A. and Nagan, M.C. “Computational Studies of the α/ß-Tubulin Heterodimeric
Interface in Microtubules: The Impact of Phosphorylation of Ser165 in α-Tubulin” Biochemistry, 2022, 61(14), 1508-1516. Supplemental Cover. doi.org/10.1021/acs.biochem.2c00154
3. Nagan, M.C. “Using a Lab Wiki for Longevity and Knowledge Transfer in Undergraduate
Research” International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, 2020,120 (20), e26262. doi.org/10.1002/qua.26262
4. Palermo, G.; Armacost, K.A. and Nagan, M.C. “Women Make COMP: Mentoring the Next
Generation of Women in Computational Chemistry” J. Chem. Inf. Model, 2019, 59, 4061-4062. doi.org/10.1021/acs.jcim.9b00643
5. Witts, R.N.;Hopson, E.C.; Koballa, D.E.; Van Boening, T.A.; Hopkins, N.H.; Patterson, E.V. and Nagan, M.C. “Backbone-Base Interactions Critical to Quantum
Stabilization of Transfer RNA Anticodon Structure” J. Phys. Chem. B, 2013, 117, 7489-7497. doi.org/10.1021/jp400084p
6. Michael, L.A.; Chenault, J.A.; Miller III, B.R.; Knolhoff, A.M. and Nagan, M.C. “Water, Shape-Recognition, Salt Bridges and Pi-Cation Interactions
Differentiate Peptide Recognition of the HIV Rev-Responsive Element” J. Mol. Biol. 2009, 392, 774-786. doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2009.07.047
7. McCrate, N.E.; Varner, M.E.; Kim, K.I. and Nagan, M.C. “Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Human tRNALys,3UUU: The Role of Modified Bases in mRNA Recognition” Nucleic Acids Res.2006, 34, 5361-5368. doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkl580