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David Mascotti, PhD

Professor - Chemistry

eMail

dmascotti@jcu.edu

Phone Number

216-397-4216

Location

Dolan Science Center W207

Employee Type

Faculty

Expertise

Biochemistry

Research and Teaching Experience

Post-Doctoral Research Assistant, Department of Biology, Washington Univ.- St. Louis, 1992-1996
Assistant Professor, Chemistry Program, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, 1996-1998
Assistant Professor, Chemistry Department, John Carroll University, 1998-2004
Chair, Chemistry Department, John Carroll University, 2005-2009
Associate Professor, Chemistry Department, John Carroll University, 2004-2010
Professor, Chemistry Department, John Carroll University, 2010-present

Dr. Mascotti joined the faculty in the summer of 1998. He completed his Ph.D. in 1992 studying nucleic acid chemistry and the interactions of synthetic peptides (that served as simpler models of proteins) with DNA and RNA. After completing his Ph.D., Dr. Mascotti accepted a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship to work at Washington University in St. Louis. While there, he studied iron metabolism and the control mechanisms of ferritin synthesis. After his postdoctoral work, he was an assistant professor at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey for two years. He now teaches general chemistry, biochemistry, and is a Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship at JCU where he has taught courses as part of the Entrepreneurship Minor. The Mascotti lab studies several biochemical processes such as protein-nucleic acid interactions, gene expression, and oxidative damage control. Toward understanding protein-nucleic acid interactions, we study the thermodynamic effects of small molecule redistribution that accompanies these macromolecular binding events. These interactions are central to gene expression at the replication, transcription, and translational levels. Also, somewhat surprisingly, at least one enzyme involved in cellular antioxidant defenses interacts with DNA and RNA which leads back to protein-nucleic acid interactions. He served as Chemistry Department Chair from 2005-2009.

Degrees

B.S., Hope College, MI
Ph.D. (Biochemistry), Texas A&M University