Campus Directory

Pronouns he, him, his, his, himself

Division Physical & Biological Sciences Division

Department/College/Unit Microbiology & Environmental Toxicology Department

Title Professor

Affiliation Faculty

Other UCSC Campus Affiliation Biomolecular Science & Engineering
Crown College

Faculty Type Regular Faculty

Web Site

Primary Office Location Physical Sciences Building
434

Additional Location(s) Crown college

Mail Stop METX

Biography, Education and Training

Doctor in Veterinary Medicine for the Autonomous University of Barcelona (1993). Obtained a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University under mentoship of Dr. John Boothroyd. Graduate work on the genetics of the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. In 2001 starts postdoctoral work with Dr. Lawrence A. Loeb (University of Washington) on directed protein evolution. Becomes Acting Instructor in 2004, still in Dr. Loeb's laboratory, and intitates work on repair of methylated DNA. Obtains an his current Assistant Professor position at UCSC in 2007.

Summary of Expertise

Protein evolution/directed evolution. DNA repair. Drug resistance (antibiotic and chemotherapy). ColE1 plasmid replication and regulation. Mutagenesis: detection and identification of signatures.

Research Interests

The Camps laboratory is interested in the consequences and applications of increasing random genetic variation. We study the evolution of new biological activities using two model systems: 1) TEM-1 beta-lactamase (for evolutionary trajectories and 2) DNA Repair of methyl-DNA adducts (for alterations in substrate recognition). Other interests include: 1) mutation footprinting of DNA replication and repair; 2) ColE1 plasmid replication initiation; 3) high-throughput quantification of mutagenesis of random mutagenesis.

Teaching Interests

Mechanistic understanding of disease both at the macroscopic level (anatomy) and molecular levels (molecular pathogenesis). Other areas include inflammation/immunity, protein engineering and pharmacology/toxicology.

Awards, Honors and Grants

1993 Top student of graduating class,
Veterinary School, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain

1994 -1996 "la Caixa" Fellowship to pursue graduate programs abroad.
la Caixa" is a foundation that took over the Fullbright Program in Spain.

1996-1997 Dean of Research's Incentive Fund Fellowship.
Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA

2003- 2004 Environmental Pathology/Toxicology T32 NIEHS National Research Service Award. University of Washington, Department of Pathology

2006-2011 National Cancer Institute K08 award
Title: Creation of AlkB Mutants for Bone Marrow Protection.

2008-2010 Conquer Cancer Now (CONCERN) award.

Selected Publications

• Roles of DNA polymerase I in leading and lagging-strand replication defined by a high-resolution mutation footprint of ColE1 plasmid replication.
• Network models of TEM β-lactamase mutations coevolving under antibiotic selection show modular structure and anticipate evolutionary trajectories
• Interplay between base excision repair activity and toxicity of 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylases in an E. coli complementation system
• The mutagenic footprint of low-fidelity Pol I ColE1 plasmid replication in E. coli reveals an extensive interplay between Pol I and Pol III
• Unraveling a connection between DNA demethylation repair and cancer
• Genetic constraints on protein evolution.
• Critical role of R-loops in processing replication blocks.
• Mechanisms of plasmid segregation: Have multicopy plasmids been overlooked?
• Modulation of ColE1-like plasmid replication for recombinant gene expression.
• Quantifying plasmid copy number to investigate plasmid dosage effects associated with directed protein evolution.
• Random mutagenesis by error-prone pol plasmid replication in Escherichia coli.

Courses Biol135 Functional human anatomy
Biol118 Molecular Pathogenesis
METX200 Interdisciplinary Approaches in Microbiology and Environmental Health