Karen Renee Gibson Fleming is a Professor of Biophysics at Johns Hopkins University. She investigates the energetics of transmembrane helix-helix interactions. Fleming was awarded the 2020 Protein Society Carl Brändén Award.

Early life and education

Fleming grew up in a family of doctors and nurses, and decided to study medicine at university. ^[1] She eventually studied French and pre-medical studies at the University of Notre Dame. ^[2] She realised that she did not like blood, so moved into scientific research instead. ^[1] After graduating Fleming attended the Catholic University of the West, where she studied French language and culture, before moving to Washington, D.C. to work at the Embassy of Morocco. ^[2] Fleming missed scientific research, and decided to work toward a doctorate at Georgetown University. ^[1] Her PhD focussed on molecular biology and during her research she became increasingly interested in proteins. ^[1] Fleming was a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University, where she worked with Donald Engelman in the Department of Molecular Biophysics. ^[1] Here she investigated the interaction of transmembrane alpha helices. ^[1]

Research and career

In 2000 Fleming started her research laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. ^[1] She continued to study the interactions of transmembrane helices, as well as investigating beta barrels. ^{[1] [3]} Her work on beta barrels allowed her research group to significantly increase the number of known membrane protein stabilities. She created a hydrophobicity scale to describe protein side-chains. ^[4] Fleming performed some of the first measurements of the thermodynamics of protein folding. ^{[5] [6]} She developed a theoretical framework to describe the association of helices. ^[7] In 2010 Fleming served as president of the Gibbs Society of Biological Thermodynamics. ^[8] Fleming uses her understanding of protein interactions to monitor the maturation of human microorganisms. ^[9]

Academic service

Alongside her academic research, Fleming runs workshops on diversity and bias. ^{[1] [10]} During the workshops she discusses social science literature on gender bias and discrimination. ^[11] The workshops evolved into workshops that cover confidence, the power of bystanders and positive actions that people can take to improve the research community. ^[1] She maintains the blog Inclusive Excellence' which discusses initiatives to empower women scientists. ^[12] Fleming was a founder of the Women of Hopkins exhibition, which profiled women members of faculty at Johns Hopkins University. ^[13] She serves as Co-Chair of the Homewood Campus of Johns Hopkins University Women Faculty Forum.

Awards and honours

Her awards and honours include:

• 2015 Diversity Leadership Council Award ^[14]
• 2015 Chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Membrane Folding ^[15]
• 2016 Biophysical Society Thomas E. Thompson Award ^[16]
• 2019 Johns Hopkins University Provost's Prize for Faculty Excellence in Diversity ^{[17] [18]}
• 2020 Protein Society Carl Brändén Award ^[5]
• 2023 Avanti Award in Lipids ^[19]

Selected publications

• Fleming, Karen G; Ackerman, Anne L; Engelman, Donald M (1997). "The effect of point mutations on the free energy of transmembrane α-helix dimerization". Journal of Molecular Biology. 272 (2): 266–275. doi: 10.1006/jmbi.1997.1236. ISSN  0022-2836. PMID  9299353.
• Moon, C. Preston; Fleming, Karen G. Side-chain hydrophobicity scale derived from transmembrane protein folding into lipid bilayers. National Academy of Sciences. OCLC  811395678.
• Fleming, Karen G.; Engelman, Donald M. (2001). "Specificity in transmembrane helix–helix interactions can define a hierarchy of stability for sequence variants". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 98 (25): 14340–14344. Bibcode: 2001PNAS...9814340F. doi: 10.1073/pnas.251367498. PMC  64683. PMID  11724930.

Fleming is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. ^[1]

References