Margaret Pietras
Papers
1
Total Citations
11
H-Index
1
About
Margaret Pietras is a structural biologist and biochemist whose work bridges the gap between protein structure and therapeutic discovery. Her primary research focuses on structure-based drug design, with a particular emphasis on kinase enzymes and their roles in disease. Her most-cited paper, "Rational mutagenesis to support structure-based drug design: MAPKAP kinase 2 as a case study" (2009), exemplifies her approach: using targeted mutations to stabilize proteins for crystallography, thereby enabling the design of selective inhibitors. This work has accumulated 11 citations, serving as a methodological cornerstone for researchers tackling challenging kinase targets. Pietras’s contributions are notable for their practical impact—her strategies have directly supported the development of drug candidates by providing high-resolution structural templates. While her citation count reflects a focused, specialized audience, her influence is felt in the laboratories of medicinal chemists and structural biologists who rely on her rational mutagenesis framework to overcome protein flexibility and crystallization bottlenecks. For students and researchers entering the field of drug discovery, Pietras’s work offers a clear lesson: that rigorous, creative protein engineering can unlock the door to new therapeutics.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
- 1