John Tomich
Professor of biochemistry
John Tomich wears many hats at Kansas State University. As a biochemistry faculty
member he conducts National Institutes of Health-funded research on synthetic peptides
with interesting activities. His primary interest is in the area of channel forming
peptides. His lab has developed more than 200 sequences that showed varied ion transport
activity in synthetic membranes as well as cultured epithelial cells and animals.
One set of peptide shows promise in allowing the selective transport of chloride ions
across cells. These peptides show promise in restoring the chloride imbalance seen
in patients that suffer cystic fibrosis. Another set of peptides temporarily alters
the barrier function of epithelial cells. These sequences are currently being investigated
as possible transport activators in epithelium. Pretreatment of cells with the peptide
facilitates the transport (uptake) of drugs or helpful molecules that are normally
excluded.
As director of the Biotechnology Core Lab, he oversees synthetic and analytic services offered to researchers around the world. The lab specializes in the chemical synthesis of peptides, mass spectrometry, protein sequencing, plasmon resonance and solution NMR structure analysis of membrane spanning peptides. Since 2006 the Core Lab has obtained instrumentation that has extended its capabilities into the area of proteomics. The lab is currently assisting researchers on a number of bacterial, plant and insect proteomics projects.
Tomich also is one of the founders of a small biotech company, Nacelle Therapeutics Inc. He is currently chief technical officer. This company was founded to help commercialize some of the peptides developed at K-State.
Tomich received his bachelor's degree in biology with a minor in chemistry from the University of Connecticut and his master's degree in biochemistry from Purdue University. He went on to receive his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
He is member of Sigma Xi, the Biophysical Society, the Association for Biomolecular Resource Facilities, the American Peptide Society and the Federation for American Scientists for Experimental Biology.
Tomich can be reached at 785-532-5956 or jtomich@k-state.edu.