Jonathan Dinman Email & Phone Number

In the early 1990s I discovered that viruses fine-tune their programmed -1 frameshift (-1 PRF) signals to produce the correct amounts of gene products in order to optimize their replication programs, and that altering -1 PRF rates strongly inhibits viral propagation. Through my career as a postdoc and academic PI, I explored the cis-acting elements and trans-acting factors that influence -1 PRF rates. This journey took me through a wide range of disciplines including virology, structural biology, cell biology, translational control, genetics and genomics. Along the way, I also picked up leadership and administrative skills, culminating in a departmental Chair position that I held for approximately 7 years. The emergence of Covid-19 brought my field to the fore, as the etiologic agent, SARS-CoV-2 uses -1 PRF to control its gene expression. This opened the door to sojourn in industry at Skyhawk Therapeutics, where I was given a unique opportunity to translate my expertise towards the discovery and development of an entirely new class of antiviral therapeutics. Back at UMD, I am enjoying a two year University Honors Fellowship, which allows me to mentor a small Honors level class exploring the influence of climate change and globalization on infectious diseases. Most recently, I took on the role of Associate Director of the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, a collaboration between UMD, UMB and NIST, focused on using state of the art biophysical and computational tools to measure and characterize biomolecules and their interactions.

Listed skills include Research, Laboratory, Genomics, Cell Biology, and 28 others.