Student Hosted Colloquia: Professor Kayunta Johnson-Winters, University of Texas at Arlington

Student Hosted Colloquia: Professor Kayunta Johnson-Winters, University of Texas at Arlington (Host: Sabrina Werby)

About the Talk

"Elucidating the catalytic mechanism of F420-dependent glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase"

About the Speaker

Kayunta Johnson-Winters received her Bachelor’s Degree from Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1999. She then went on to work for Graham Moran at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she obtained her PhD. Dr. Johnson-Winters then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Arizona with John Enemark. In 2010, she then joined the faculty at UT-Arlington. There, she is currently an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.  Dr. Johnson-Winters is a mechanistic enzymologist and her research interests are on F420-dependent enzymes, in which some of these enzymes function within the pathogenic organism, Mycobacteria tuberculosis.  Dr. Johnson-Winters is also an underrepresented minority and understands the importance of providing opportunities to all individuals, including attracting bright and qualified minority students to the field of STEM.  At UT-Arlington, she has mentored in her research group, more than 60 graduate, undergraduate and high school students combined, as well as a postdoctoral fellow. Among these, half were female and half were minority students from underrepresented backgrounds.  She has served as the university’s LSAMP-BD director and is also a member of the Minority Affairs Committee for the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Image credit: Troy Gardner