Eamonn Healy

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Eamonn Healy
Contact
School
School of Natural Sciences
Department
Chemistry
Office
Holy Cross Hall 206, 25

Dr. Healy was born in NewCastle West, Co. Limerick Ireland, and received a doctorate in chemistry in 1984 from the University of Texas at Austin where he was a student of Dr. Michael J. S. Dewar. As a member of the Dewar research group he co-authored Austin Model 1, or AM1, a semi-empirical method for the quantum calculation of molecular electronic structure in computational chemistry. He has authored over 50  peer-reviewed publications, and appears in Richard Linklater's 2001 film Waking Life discussing concepts similar to a technological singularity and explaining "telescopic" and technological evolution. View full bio here. 

My overall teaching philosophy is to convey to my students the sense of excitement and wonder that I feel in dealing with my discipline, and for them to leave with an ability to reason and critically evaluate the information and concepts presented to them.

Academic Appointments

  • 2010- Bro. Lucian Blersch Professor of Science, St. Edward's University
  • 2001- Professor of Chemistry, St. Edward's University
  • 1995-2001 Associate Professor of Chemistry, St. Edward's University
  • 1990-1995 Assistant Professor of Chemistry, St. Edward's University
  • 1986-1990 Research Scientist Associate IV, University of Texas at Austin
  • 1984-1986Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Texas at Austin
  • University College Cork, Ireland, 1976-1980 B.S. Chemistry.
  • University of Texas at Austin, 1980-1984 Ph.D. Chemistry.

Honors and Awards

  • Bro. Lucian Blersch Professor of Science (2010-17)
  • Piper Professor,Texas (2001)
  • Outstanding Teacher, St. Edward's University (1999)
  • Charter F21 member, Class of 1995, Project Kaleidoscope
  • Outstanding Teacher, School of Natural Sciences, St. Edward's University (1992)
  • Original Member, Highly Cited Researchers Database, ISI Thomson Scientific : "The development and use of quantum-mechanical molecular-models. 76. AM1: a new general-purpose quantum-mechanical molecular-model", Dewar, M. J. S., Zoebisch, E. G., Healy, E. F. & Stewart, J. J. PJ. Am. Chem. Soc. 107, 3902–3909 (1985). Number 80 in the list of the top 100 scientific papers of all time.
  • Member, the American Chemical Society
  • Member. Texas Academy of Science

Research

The general focus of my research involves the use of molecular modeling to design structure-activity probes for the purpose of elucidating enzymatic activity. Recent targets have included HIV-1 integrase, the c-Kit and src-abl proteins associated with tumor development and certain leukemias, and the metalloproteinases associated with the shedding of chemokine CXCL16. For the latter work we have used ligand-protein docking to guide and characterize in vitro assays of CXCL16 shedding. We have also investigated the bacterial and host contributions to latent Mtb infection through the identification of the macrophage cellular responses that are modulated by the Mtb alpha-crystallin (Acr) protein. This work has allowed for an in silico characterization of the mechanism of action of Mtb Acr, that in turn has led us to a novel mechanism of action for all small Heat Shock Proteins (sHSP). More recently we have expanded this analysis to characterize mechanistic details for the heat shock response of Escherichia coli, and we have developed a model to explain the observed suppression of spinocerebellar ataxia by human alphaB-crystallin through the formation of a transient complex. A transient, non-obligate oligomer model has also been developed to explain aspects of the etiology of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS.

Active Grants

Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Awards (IRACDA), National Institutes of General Medical Services , 2013-2019 , AWARD:$2.75 M
 

Previously Awarded Grants

Most Recent

7/01/2010-6/31/2015 The National ScienceFoundation (NSF), “Community for Achievement in Science, Academics, and Research (CASAR), Healy (CO-PI), AWARD: $498,000

7/01/2007-6/31/2010 W.M. Keck Foundation Research and Undergraduate Programs Grant. “Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research on HIV-1 Drug Resistance”, Healy (PI), AWARD: $260,000

Publications

Book Chapter:

  • Eamonn F. Healy “Michael J. S. Dewar: A Model Iconoclast” In Pioneers of Quantum Chemistry, E. Thomas Strom, Angela K. Wilson , Eds. , ACS Symposium Series, Vol. 1122; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2013 pp 139–153.

Articles

Peer-reviewed publications († student author):

  • Healy, E.F., Rowland, C. †, Topological Analysis of the Electron Density of Molecules with Bridging Hydrogens to Tackle the Chemical Structure Monolith, European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry 2022, 34, e202200538. 
  • Healy, E.F., "How tetraspanin-mediated cell entry of SARS-CoV-2 can dysregulate the shedding of the ACE2 receptor by ADAM17" Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 2022,593, 52-56.
  • Healy, E.F., Lilic, M. †, "A model for COVID-19-induced dysregulation of ACE2 shedding by ADAM17" Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.  2021 in press .
  • Eamonn F Healy, Lisa M. Goering, Charles R. Hauser, and Peter J. King “An immunomodulatory role for the Mtb Acr protein in the formation of the tuberculous granuloma” FEBS Lett.. 2021, 595, 284-293.
  • Eamonn F Healy, Organic chemistry as representation Foundations of Chemistry, 2021 23, 59-68.
  • Healy, E. F., & Blade, G. † “Tips and Tools for Teaching Organic Synthesis Online”  Journal of Chemical Education, 2020, 97, 3163–3167.
  • Healy, Eamonn F., Rafael Flores†, Vincent M. Lynch, and Santiago Toledo. "Protein dynamics of [Cu-Zn] superoxide dismutase (SOD1): How protein motions at the global and local levels impact the reactivity of SOD1." Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry 2020, 210, 111161.
  • Eamonn F. Healy. "Reply to Comment on “Should Organic Chemistry Be Taught as Science?”", Journal of Chemical Education 2020, 97, 1215-1215.
  • Eamonn F Healy, Analise Roth-Rodriguez† and  Santiago Toledo “A model for gain of function in superoxide dismutase” Biochem. Biophys. Rep. 2020, 21, 100728.
  • Eamonn F Healy, Should Organic Chemistry be taught as Science ?, Journal of Chemical Education, 2019 , 96, 10, 2069-2071
  • Eamonn F Healy, Luis Cervantes†, Barret Nabona†, Jacob Williams†, "A unified mechanism for plant polyketide biosynthesis derived from in silico modeling", Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 2018, 497, 1123-1128..
  • E.F. Healy, “Visualizing the molecular wave function in sigma-coordinated complexes”, Computational and Theoretical Chemistry, 2018,1125, 128-132.
  • Eamonn F. Healy “A prion-like mechanism for the propagated misfolding of SOD1 ”, PLoS ONE 2017, 12 (5), e0177284.
  • Eamonn F. Healy “A mechanism for propagated SOD1 misfolding from frustration analysis of a G85R mutant protein assembly”, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 2016, 478, 1634-1639
  • Eamonn F. Healy and Luis Cervantes† “An in silico study of the effect of SOD1 electrostatic loop dynamics on amyloid-like filament formation ”, Euro. Biophys. J. 2016, 45, 853-859.
  • Eamonn F. Healy , “A model for non-obligate oligomer formation in protein aggregation.” Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 2015, 465 , 523-527.
  • Eamonn F. Healy, Carley Little† and Peter J. King “A model for small heat shock protein inhibition of polyglutamine aggregation" Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics 2014, 69, 275-281. 
  • Eamonn F. Healy " A model for heterooligomer formation in the heat shock response of E. coli", Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 2012, 420, 639-643. 
  • Eamonn F. Healy, and Peter J. King  "A Mechanism of Action for Small Heat Shock Proteins", Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 2012, 417, 268–273. 
  • E.F. Healy, “Heisenberg's Chemical Legacy: Resonance and the Chemical Bond”, Foundations of Chemistry, 2011, 13, 39-49. 
  • E.F. Healy, “The effect of desolvation on nucleophilic halogenase activity”, Computational and Theoretical Chemistry, 2011, 964, 91-93. 
  • Eamonn F. Healy, Pablo Romano†, Moises Mejia† and Gunnar Lindfors III†, Acetylenic Inhibitors of ADAM10 and ADAM17: In silico analysis of potency and selectivity  J. Mol. Graph. Model,  2010, 29,  436-442. 
  • Eamonn F. Healy, Samuel Manzer, Jeffrey Gorman, Alicia Jones† and Nicholas Cristea† "A dramatic heavy atom effect in the quenching of dichlorosubstituted lucigenin fluorescence", Chem. Phys. Lett., 2010, 485 , 258-261.  
  • E.F. Healy “In Defense of a Heuristic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics”, J. Chem. Educ., 2010, 87 , 559-563. 
  • Eamonn F. Healy , Skylar Johnson† , Charles Hauser, and Peter King “Tyrosine kinase inhibition: Ligand binding and conformational change in c-Kit and c-Abl.”  FEBS Lett.  2009, 583, 2899-2906.  
  • Eamonn F. Healy, Jonathan Sanders†, Peter J. King and W. Edward Robinson, Jr “A Docking Study of LChicoric Acid with HIV-1 Integrase” J Mol. Graph. Model. 2009, 27 , 14. 
  • E.F. Healy "Quantitative Determination of DNA-Ligand Binding Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy", J. Chem. Educ., 2007, 84, 1304.  
  • E.F. Healy "Huckel Calculations using Mathematica", J. Chem. Educ., 1995, 72, A120. 
  • E.F. Healy; J. D. Lewis;  A. B. Minnear† "A Sudy of the Aluminum Hydride Reduction of Unsaturated Cyclic Epoxides", Tetrahedron Lett.,  1994, 35, 6647. 
  • E.F. Healy; A.J. Holder, "An Evaluation of AM1 Vibrational Frequencies", J. Mol. Struct. (Theochem);1993, 281, 141. 
  • M.J.S. Dewar, E. G. Zoebisch, E.F. Healy, J. J. P. Stewart, “Development and use of quantum mechanical molecular models. 76. AM1: a new general purpose quantum mechanical molecular model.[Erratum to document cited in CA103 (2): 11627f]”  J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1993, 115, 5348. 
  • E. F. Healy, C. G. Wall†,  M.A. Fox, "Peptide Conformational Analysis using the TRIPOS Force    Field", Intl. J. Quant. Chem., 1992, 44 ,543 
  • E.F. Healy, M.J.S. Dewar,  A.J. Holder, D.R. Kuhn,"AM1 Calculations for compounds containing Tin",  Organometallics,  1991, 10 ,431. 
  • M.J.S. Dewar, E.F. Healy, A.J. Holder, Y-C Yuan,"Comments on a comparison of AM1 with the Recently Developed PM3 Method",  J. Comput. Chem.,   1990, 11 , 541. 
  • M.J.S. Dewar, A.J. Holder, E.F. Healy, S. Olivella,"Comparison of Single Point ab initio Energies calculated using 3-21G and AM1 Geometries",  J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Comm., 1989, 1452. 
  • M.J.S. Dewar, D.A. Liotard, E.F. Healy, J.M. Ruiz,  QCPE Bulletin,  "AMPAC: A General Molecular Orbital Package", 1989, 9, QCPE # 506. 
  • M.J.S. Dewar, E.F. Healy, J.R. Ruiz, "Mechanism of the 1,5-Sigmatropic Shift in 1,3-Pentadiene", J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1988, 110, 2666 
  • M.J.S. Dewar, , E.F. Healy, "Ab initio study of the Cope Rearrangement of 1,5-hexadiene",  Chem. Phys. Lett.,, 1987, 141, 521. 
  • R.A. Caldwell, H. Misawa, M.J.S. Dewar, E.F. Healy,"An Unusually Large Secondary Deuterium Isotope Effect",J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1987, 109, 6869. 
  • M.J.S. Dewar, E.F. Healy, J. Ruiz, "A High Level ab initio   Study of Corner-Protonated Cyclopropane", J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Comm., 1987, 943. 
  • M.J.S. Dewar, G.L. Grady, E.F. Healy, "MNDO Calculations for Compounds Containing Germanium",Organometallics, 1987, 6, 186. 
  • M.J.S. Dewar, G.L. Grady, J. Friedheim, E.F. Healy,J.J.P. Stewart  "Revised MNDO Parameters for Silicon", Organometallics, 1986, 5, 375. 
  • M.J.S. Dewar, E.F. Healy, J. Ruiz, "Cruciaromaticity in organometallic compounds", Pure & Appl. Chem., 1986, 58, 67. 
  • M.J.S. Dewar, E. G. Zoebisch, E.F. Healy, J. J. P. Stewart,"AM1: A New General Purpose Quantum Mechanical Molecular Model",J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1985, 107, 3902. 
  • M.J.S. Dewar, E.F. Healy,"MNDO Study of the Claisen Rearrangement",J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1985, 107, 3902. 
  • M.J.S. Dewar, , E.F. Healy, J. J. P. Stewart,"Location of Transition States in Reaction mechanisms",J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans., 1984, 80, 227. 
  • M.J.S. Dewar, , E.F. Healy, J. J. P. Stewart,"MNDO Calculations for Compounds Containing Iodine", J. Comput. Chem., 1984, 5, 358. 
  • M.J.S. Dewar, , E.F. Healy, "MNDO Calculations for Compounds Containing Bromine", J. Comput. Chem., 1983, 4, 542. 
  • W. S. Murphy, E.F. Healy†, S. Wattansin, "Synthesis of 1-Arylnaphthalenes from Cyclopropyl Ketones", Proc. R. Ir. Acad., 1983, 83, 13.  
  • M.J.S. Dewar, , E.F. Healy, "Why Life Exists", Organometallics, 1982, 1, 1705. 
  • P. Brint, E.F. Healy†, T. Spalding, T. Whelan, "Bonding in Clusters. Protonation of nido- Pentaborane, nido- Hexaborane and closo- Hexaborane", J. Chem. Soc. Dalton , 1981, 2515.  

† student author  

Presentations

 Most Recent

  • Healy, E. F., 2019 A mechanism for coupled gain of structure and loss of function in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.12th EBSA 10th ICBP-IUPAP Congress Madrid, Spain, July EUROPEAN BIOPHYSICS JOURNAL WITH BIOPHYSICS LETTERS (Vol. 48, pp. S143-S143). 233 SPRING ST, NEW YORK, NY 10013 USA: SPRINGER.
  • Healy, E.F., 2017 A Prion-like mechanism in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. 19th International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB) and 11th European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA) Congress Edinburgh, Scotland, July EUROPEAN BIOPHYSICS JOURNAL WITH BIOPHYSICS LETTERS (Vol. 46, pp. S217-S217). 233 SPRING ST, NEW YORK, NY 10013 USA: SPRINGER.SPRINGER.
  • Protein dynamics in Superoxide Dismutase (SOD1) Cervantes, L., & Healy, E.  ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 253 2017.
  • "Structural Ontology and Chemical Epistemology:The case of the pi-complex" Eamonn F Healy, presented at the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry - Summer Symposium , Boca Raton, 2016.
  • PAPER HIST 22 , "Between two stools: Pauling, Mulliken, and Michael J. S. Dewar" E.F. Healy,  presented at the 251st ACS National Meeting & Exposition, San Diego,  Spring, 2016 [view an account here]
  • Rational design for matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-1) L Cienega, EF Healy ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 247, 2014
  • Modeling the conformational flexibility of resveratrol AA Bui, EF Healy ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 247, 2014
  • Model for small heat shock protein inhibition of polyglutamine aggregation C Little, E Healy ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 245, 2013
  • Resveratrol and resveratrol derivatives as class IA PI3K inhibitors CN Petty, EF Healy, P KingABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 245, 2013
  •  Paper COMP 193 “Tyrosine kinase inhibition: Ligand binding and conformational change in c-Kit and c-Abl ”,Eamonn F Healy, presented at the 244th  National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia, Fall 2012.
  • Acetylenic inhibitors of ADAM10 and ADAM17: In silico analysis of potency and selectivity M Mejia, EF Healy ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 241, 2011
  • Rational design of Mtb enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase inhibitors MC Nakhla, EF HealyABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 241, 2011.
  • "Life After Darwin", Eamonn F. Healy, presented at the VIBes International Symposium, Leuven, Belgium,  2010.
  • In silico studies of the metalloproteinases ADAM10 and ADAM 17 G Lindfors, S Caine, EF Healy ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 239, 2010
  • Genetic STR typing using chip electrophoresis CA Lott, C Parish, D Wharry, E Healy ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 239, 2010
  • Dramatic heavy atom effect in the quenching of chloro-substituted lucigenin AM Jones, CA Ragland, EF Healy, JST Gorman ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 237, 2009
  • Inhibition of tyrosine kinases: The influence of protein flexibility on ligand design A Fields, A Clemments, EF Healy ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 237, 2009
  • CHED 1300-HIV Integrase and c-Kit: Ligand design and docking protocols S Johnson, J Sanders, EF Healy ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 235, 2008
  • CHED 544-Mechanism of lucigenin fluorescence quenching by chloride ions CA Ragland, N Cristea, J Kugler, EF Healy, JST Gorman ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 235,2008
  • Design and evaluation of an integrated undergraduate research laboratory JD Lewis, H Altmiller, EF Healy, MA Kopecki-Fjetland ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 234, 2007
  • Quenching mechanism of lucigenin fluorescence: Theory and experiment N Cristea, M Chavez, EF HealyABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 233, 404-404, 2007
  • Surface enhance raman spectroscopy (SERS) of thiol-capped oligonucleotide probes R Hrabal, EF Healy ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 231, 2006
  • Molecular weight determination using fluorescence polarization B Mize, EF Healy ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 231, 2006
  • Quenching mechanism of lucigenin fluorescence: Theory and experiment J Kugler, EF Healy ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 231, 2006
  • Synthesis and characterization of various molybdenum-tricarboxylic acid complexes. L Wiener, EF Healy ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 229, U525-U525, 2005
  • Development of quantitative assay for glutathione reductase F Medina, E Healy ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 229, U479-U479, 2005
  • Development of quantitative assay for glutathione reductase. A Yaeger, EF Healy ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 227, U428-U428, 2004.

Performances

Telescopic Evolution (from the movie  "Waking Life)

Account of presentation at the 251st ACS National Meeting & Exposition in San Diego, Spring, 2016, titled "Between two stools: Pauling, Mulliken, and Michael J. S. Dewar" 

View the full text of most papers

Class Preparation

Classes Taught Fall/Spring: