Mary Jo Ondrechen (born 1953) is an American chemist, educator, researcher, community leader and activist. She serves as Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and Principal InvestigatorNortheastern University College of Science Faculty - Chemistry and Chemical Biology
(2014). of the Computational Biology Research Group at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

in Boston, Massachusetts.

Education

Ondrechen received an

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

certified bachelor's degree in chemistry from

Reed College Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor-Gothic style architecture, and a forested canyon nature preserve at ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, in 1974. She pursued doctoral studies in Chemistry and Chemical Physics at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

, and earned the Ph.D. degree in 1978, under the direction of Mark A. Ratner. After postdoctoral research appointments at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

and at

Tel-Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, the latter as a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Postdoctoral Fellow, she joined the faculty at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts in 1980.Pollastri, M.P

(2017)

Research and discoveries

Her earlier research achievements include the design of

molecules A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...

and materials with desirable spectroscopic and conductive properties, prediction of electric field effects in molecules and

proteins Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

, the optimization of energy conversion devices, and the design and characterization of ionic conductor materials for rechargeable

batteries Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

. Her current research activities include modeling of biological

macromolecules A macromolecule is a very large molecule important to biophysical processes, such as a protein or nucleic acid. It is composed of thousands of covalently bonded atoms. Many macromolecules are polymers of smaller molecules called monomers. The ...

Finley, A.
Investigating Enzyme-Substrate Interactions with Vitamin B6
(1999). and predictive calculations for

functional genomics Functional genomics is a field of molecular biology that attempts to describe gene (and protein) functions and interactions. Functional genomics make use of the vast data generated by genomic and transcriptomic projects (such as genome sequencing ...

. She co-developed

THEMATICS Topical or thematic stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps relating to a particular subject or concept. Topics can be almost anything, from stamps on stamps, birds, trains and poets on stamps, to famous physicians and scientists, al ...

Protein Function Predicted With New "THEMATICS" Method Developed By Northeastern University & Brandeis Scientists
ScienceDaily, (2001).Borman, S., From sequence to consequence. Chemical and Engineering News, 79(48): p. 31-33 (2001).Ball, P.

Nature, (2001). (Theoretical Microscopic Anomalous Titration Curve Shapes), a simple computational predictor of functional information about proteins from their three-dimensional structure alone. THEMATICS predicts catalytic and

binding sites In biochemistry and molecular biology, a binding site is a region on a macromolecule such as a protein that binds to another molecule with specificity. The binding partner of the macromolecule is often referred to as a ligand. Ligands may inclu ...

in proteins with high sensitivity and good selectivity. A unique and powerful feature of her THEMATICS method is that it requires neither sequence nor structural comparisons and hence applies to novel folds, orphan sequences, and also to engineered

polypeptide Peptides (, ) are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides. A p ...

systems. She is also the co-developer, with Wenxu Tong and

Ronald J. Williams Ronald J. Williams is professor of computer science at Northeastern University, and one of the pioneers of neural networks. He co-authored a paper on the backpropagation algorithm which triggered a boom in neural network research. He also made fund ...

, of a novel

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of inquiry devoted to understanding and building methods that 'learn', that is, methods that leverage data to improve performance on some set of tasks. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence. Machine ...

technology called Partial Order Optimum Likelihood (POOL). POOL is a monotonicity-constrained maximum likelihood method for the prediction of properties that depend monotonically on the input features. This powerful method, coupled with THEMATICS input features, is a top-performing

active site In biology and biochemistry, the active site is the region of an enzyme where substrate molecules bind and undergo a chemical reaction. The active site consists of amino acid residues that form temporary bonds with the substrate (binding site) a ...

predictor for protein structures. These methods are also being used for the successful annotation of

structural genomics Structural genomics seeks to describe the 3-dimensional structure of every protein encoded by a given genome. This genome-based approach allows for a high-throughput method of structure determination by a combination of experimental and modeling ...

proteins, i.e. for the discovery of the function of gene products whose function is currently unknown. Her Structurally Aligned Local Sites of Activity (SALSA) method uses local sets of

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...

residues that are computationally predicted to be active in catalysis to identify the biochemical function of

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...

structures of unknown function. These computational methods are also currently used to understand how enzymes affect

catalysis Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...

. Specifically Professor Ondrechen has pioneered the concept of spatially extended enzyme active sites, and that the participation of

amino acids Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...

, even if they are distant from the site of the catalyzed reaction, may be predicted with a simple calculation.Herring, A.
Form and function in enzyme activity
(2012). Her research group has also developed computational methods to improve the design of artificial enzymes. In 2020 Ondrechen's research group added a new project to characterize the proteins of

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

, the virus that causes

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and to seek interventions to disrupt the viral life cycle https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/20200501/hopkinton-resident-receives-national-science-foundation-grant-to-study-coronavirus Hopkinton resident receives National Science Foundation grant to study coronavirus.https://news.northeastern.edu/2020/05/15/the-coronavirus-might-have-hidden-weak-spots-machine-learning-could-help-find-them/ The coronavirus might have hidden weak spots. Machine learning could help find them.

Community activism

Ondrechen is a community leader and activist. She has recently served on the board of advisors of the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

-based Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC), representing the interests of community and tribal stakeholders.Willett, A.

(2012) She is the former president of the board of directors of the North American Indian Center of Boston ( NAICOB)Dunn, J.
About NAICOB
(2013). and served as chair of the board of directors of the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based American Indian Science and Engineering Society ( AISES) from 2011 to 2013.EchoHawk, S.
AISES Board of Directors
(2014). A passionate advocate for stewardship of the Earth, she previously has served on the Conservation Commission for

Hopkinton, Massachusetts Hopkinton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, west of Boston. The town is best known as the starting point of the Boston Marathon, held annually on Patriots' Day each April, and as the headquarters for the Dell EMC corpo ...

, and on the Community Leaders Network of the U.S. Department of Energy. She has been particularly active in the promotion of innovative technologies to solve environmental problems.In Situ Chemical Oxidation
(2000).Technical and Regulatory Guidance for the Triad Approach: A New Paradigm for Environmental Project Management
(2003).The Use of Direct Push Well Technology for Long-term Environmental Monitoring in Groundwater Investigations
(2006). She also actively advocates for the inclusion of public and tribal stakeholders in environmental evaluation, decision-making, and management. She was a speaker at the

March for Science The March for Science (formerly known as the Scientists' March on Washington) is an international series of rallies and marches held on Earth Day. The inaugural march was held on April 22, 2017, in Washington, D.C., and more than 600 other cit ...

in Washington, D.C., in April, 2017. She has given numerous presentations on diversity and inclusiveness in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (

STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

) fields.Hernandez, R.
OXIDE Biography: Mary Jo Ondrechen
(2014).Pathways to Science, Mary Jo Ondrechen
(2012).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ondrechen, Mary Jo 1953 births Living people American women chemists Northeastern University faculty Reed College alumni Computational chemists American women academics