Berea.eduarrow_forward
Academicsarrow_forward
Chemistryarrow_forward
Faculty & Staffarrow_forward
Rashmi Capece
Dr. Rashmi Capece
Assistant Professor|Chemistry
Contact
Office Location
MAC 418
Office Hours
  • M,W,F : 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
  • M,W : 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Class Schedules
  • CHM 221 A (Mon/Wed/Fri: 9:20 am – 10:30 am) (Tue: 12:00 pm – 2:50 pm)
  • CHM 221 B (Mon/Wed/Fri: 9:20 am – 10:30 am) (Wed: 2:40 pm – 5:30 pm)
  • CHM 440 (Mon/Wed/Fri: 1:20 pm – 2:30 pm)
Courses
  • CHM 221 A
  • CHM 221 B
  • CHM 440
Bio

I am originally from Nepal and came to the United States for my undergraduate studies. I graduated from the University of Louisville in 2011 with a B.S. in Chemistry with a Biochemistry concentration. I went to graduate school at Purdue University and earned my Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2016. During my graduate studies, I structurally and biochemically characterized a yeast ubiquitin protease involved in lysosomal degradation of cell-surface receptors mediated by the macromolecular ESCRT machinery complexes. After graduate school, I worked as a molecular biologist in a biotech company focused on discovering and enhancing DNA promoters that regulate gene expression until 2018. At the same time, I also taught Chemistry as an adjunct faculty member in a community college in Oakland, CA. I then started as a North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Teaching and Research Fellow at the University of North Carolina Asheville, where I not only taught general chemistry and biochemistry courses but also trained and conducted research alongside undergraduates investigating the rotary mechanism of a biological macromolecule ATP synthase. I joined the Chemistry Department at Berea College in 2020 and am excited to be here to fulfill my teaching interests and lead students in research. My research is focused on exploring key interaction sites of ATP synthase to understand the elegant choreography of ATP synthesis and hydrolysis and inform future drug development.

Degrees
  • 2016 PhD, Chemistry (Biochemistry Division), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
  • 2011 BS, Chemistry with Biochemistry Concentration, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
Publications & Works
  • Shrestha, R. Syllabus Speed Dating. 2023. ToolKit. Watercooler, Center for Teaching & Learning, Appalachian College Association.
    Shrestha, Rashmi K. et al. Mutational analysis of a conserved positive charge in the c-ring of E. coli ATP synthase. 2023. BBA-Bioenergetics.1864(2):148962.
    Shrestha, Rashmi and Das, C. Crystal structure of the Thr316Ala mutant of a yeast JAMM deubiquitinase: implication of active-site loop dynamics in catalysis. 2021. Acta Crystallogr F Struct Biol Commun. 77(Pt 6):163-170.
    Shrestha, Rashmi, K.*, Bueno, Amy, N.* et al. Dynamics of an active-site flap contributes to catalysis in a JAMM family metallo deubiquitinase. 2015. Biochemistry. 54 (39): 6038–6051.
    Newman, Justin, A. et al. Intercalating dyes for enhanced contrast in second-harmonic generation imaging of protein crystals. 2015. Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr. 71 (Pt 7):1471-7.
    Shrestha, Rashmi, K.*, Ronau, Judith, A.* et al. Insights into the mechanism of deubiquitination by JAMM deubiquitinases from co-crystal structures of enzyme with substrate and product. 2014. Biochemistry. 53 (19): 3199-3217.
    Shrestha, Rashmi, K.et al. Analysis of the Composition of Lipid in Human Meibum from Normal Infants, Children, Adolescents, Adults and Adults with Meibomian Gland Dysfunction using 1H-NMR Spectroscopy. 2011. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 52:7350-7358.
    *Authors contributed equally