About Dr Deborah Gater
Dr Deborah Gater has two Master’s degrees, in Chemistry and in Protein and Membrane Chemical Biology, and a PhD in Chemistry, all from Imperial College, London. Following her PhD studies, she worked as a journal editor for Current Opinion in Drug Discovery & Development at Thomson Reuters, and then as a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute of Pharmacology & Structural Biology (part of the CNRS in France). Since 2012 (with a short break for family reasons), she has been a faculty member, first at Khalifa University in the UAE and then at the Centre for Languages and International Education at UCL in London. Her research interests are in chemical education, solid-state NMR and membrane biophysics.
Dr Deborah Gater's Research
Dr Gater’s research training focused in inter- and multi-disciplinary studies in membrane biophysics, and on building collaborations at the interface of the physical and biological sciences. Subsequently, she has studied the role of cholesterol and cholesterol derivatives in a variety of physical model systems – from simple bilayers and vesicles, to lipid cubic phases and living cells. Her main techniques of interest are solid-state NMR and x-ray diffraction. Dr Gater has also developed collaborations looking at the interface between biological systems and semiconductor-based surfaces, and examining the role of vitamin D in membrane properties.
In addition, Dr Gater is interested in evidence-based teaching and in educational research – particularly in efforts to improve access, attainment and inclusivity in chemistry education, and in the use of technology in teaching.
Selected Publications:
Devarajan A, Kim YC, Isakovic AF, Gater DL: Effect of cholecalciferol on unsaturated model membranes. Chemistry and Physics of Lipids (2021) 235:105058.
Alkhidir T, Abi Jaoude M, Gater DL, Isakovic AF: Detection of some amino acids with modulation-doped and surface-nanoengineered GaAs Schottky PIN diodes. Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B (2020) 38(5).
Kim HG, Gater DL, Kim YC: Development of transdermal vitamin D3 (VD3) delivery system using combinations of PLGA nanoparticles and microneedles. Drug Delivery & Translational Research (2018) 8:281.
Gater DL, Widatalla N, Islam K, AlRaeesi M, Teo J, Pearson YE: Quantification of sterol-specific response in human macrophages using automated imaged-based analysis. Lipids in Health & Disease (2017) 16(1):14.
Gater DL, Saurel O, Iordanov I, Liu W, Cherezov V, Milon A: Two classes of cholesterol binding sites for the β2AR revealed by thermostability and NMR. Biophysical Journal (2014) 107(10):2305.
Full Publication List: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5353-8179
Dr Deborah Gater's Teaching
Dr Gater will be teaching Chemistry courses for first-year study abroad students from Northeastern University in Boston.