Arthur Baca MD PhD
Arthur M. Baca, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Arthur M. Baca is a technical advisor in the fields of biomedical engineering, genetics, chemical engineering, and medicine. With his extensive background in biotechnology and clinical laboratory diagnostic testing, Dr. Baca provides his personal knowledge toward developing viable patent applications for our family of clients.
Dr. Baca’s specific technical interests include biotechnology, drug-design, protein engineering, medicine, clinical pathology, and diagnostic testing. Dr. Baca received his training as a medical scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle. There, he completed his Ph.D. in bioengineering with a focus on structure-based drug design in the laboratory of Dr. Wim Hol. As a research assistant at the University of Washington, Dr. Baca crystallized and elucidated the atomic structure of an enzyme from the causative organism of human tuberculosis. This enzyme,7,8-dihydropteroate synthase, is the target of several drug compounds in clinical use today, including dapsone, sulfanilamide, sulfamethoxazole, and sulfasalazine. At the University of Washington’s Biomolecular Structure Center, Dr. Baca developed an E. coli cell strain that allows for the high-yield expression of AT-rich genes. This engineered E. coli strain has been successfully licensed to a biotechnology firm and is used in hundreds of labs throughout the world. Dr. Baca is well versed in matters of biotechnology, including recombinant DNA technology, protein expression and purification systems, bioinformatics, computational and structural biology as well as X-ray crystallography and drug design. With his sound scientific training, Dr. Baca provides a precise understanding and helpful appreciation of each client’s biotechnological discovery.
In addition to his scientific training, Dr. Baca is a medical doctor specializing in the field of clinical pathology. His training allows him to critically analyze the utility, limitations, and uniqueness of clinical laboratory tests used in medicine today. While in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Baca gained a wide variety of medical experience in the operation and management of clinical laboratory services. He is able to understand the clinical significance of a wide range of state-of-the-art analytical techniques currently being developed and applied to medicine, including DNA microarray analysis, flow cytometry, immunophenotyping, and proteomics. By intimately understanding the clinical impact of an inventor’s discoveries, Dr. Baca provides a unique perspective that makes him an exceptional and powerful technical resource. Through the years, Dr. Baca has received many academic awards and honors, including the Whitaker Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Fellowship, and the University of New Mexico’s George E. Breece Memorial Prize. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, the National Engineering Honor Society, and the Golden Key National Honor Society.
Dr. Baca received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of New Mexico, summa cum laude. He received his M.D. from the University of Washington School of Medicine and his Ph.D in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington, Seattle. He is an active member of the Society for the Advancement of Native Americans and Chicanos in Science (SACNAS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
EXPERIENCE IN SUM:
General Fields of Expertise: Biotechnology, Medicine, Laboratory Diagnostics, Structural Biology & Protein Crystallography, Rational Drug-Design, Molecular Biology, Protein Engineering, Bioinformatics, Chemical Engineering
Applied Scientific Skills:
DNA Analysis: PCR, subcloning, DNA cycle sequencing, restriction analysis, mutagenesis, synthetic gene construction, DNA analysis software.
Protein Overexpression: Prokarotic and eukaryotic expression systems, protein-fusion and tag systems, in vivo solubilization techniques, codon optimization.
Protein Crystallization: hanging & sitting drop methodologies, cryocrystallography, crystallographic data analysis software.
Bioinformatics: DNA and protein sequence analysis tools, including threading, comparative modeling, alignment, homology modeling, relational databases.