Christopher Roland

Bio

Prof. Roland received his PhD in Physics in 1989 from McGill University, Canada. He then spent a year as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto, and then at AT&T Bell Laboratories. He joined Physics Department at NC State in 1993 as an Assistant Professor, and has been there ever since. He became an Associate Professor in 1998 and a full Professor in 2002.

Area(s) of Expertise

Prof. Roland’s research interest have been centered primarily in the area of theoretical Condensed Matter Physics and Biophysics. His initial work focused on understanding dynamics and growth phenomena in a variety of materials systems, such as the kinetics of first order phase transitions, homoepitaxy of semiconductors, and the growth of carbon nanotubes. Subsequent research focused on understanding quantum transport in molecular electronic systems for nanoscale applications and development of free energy methods for biomolecular systems. His most recent work is aimed at understanding atypical DNA and RNA structures – particular those associated with Trinucleotide Repeat Expansion Diseases (TREDs) which are behind many severe neurodegenerative and neuromuscular disorders.

Publications

• Structural and Dynamical Properties of Nucleic Acid Hairpins Implicated in Trinucleotide Repeat Expansion Diseases , BIOMOLECULES (2024)
• Conformationally Restricted Glycopeptide Backbone Inhibits Gas-Phase H/D Scrambling between Glycan and Peptide Moieties , JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY (2023)
• Frustration Between Preferred States of Complementary Trinucleotide Repeat DNA Hairpins Anticorrelates with Expansion Disease Propensity , JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (2023)
• Structure and Dynamics of DNA and RNA Double Helices Formed by d(CTG), d(GTC), r(CUG), and r(GUC) Trinucleotide Repeats and Associated DNA-RNA Hybrids , JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B (2023)
• Unpolarized laser method for infrared spectrum calculation of amide I C=O bonds in proteins using molecular dynamics simulation , COMPUTERS IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE (2023)
• Novel eGZ-motif formed by regularly extruded guanine bases in a left-handed Z-DNA helix as a major motif behind CGG trinucleotide repeats , NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH (2022)
• RNA as a Major-Groove Ligand: RNA-RNA and RNA-DNA Triplexes Formed by GAA and UUC or TTC Sequences , ACS OMEGA (2022)
• Construction of DNA/RNA Triplex Helices Based on GAA/TTC Trinucleotide Repeats , BIO-PROTOCOL (2021)
• Molecular conformations and dynamics of nucleotide repeats associated with neurodegenerative diseases: double helices and CAG hairpin loops , COMPUTATIONAL AND STRUCTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL (2021)
• The F19W mutation reduces the binding affinity of the transmembrane A beta(11-40) trimer to the membrane bilayer , RSC ADVANCES (2021)

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