Leti Beltran

Overview: I am a graduate student in University of Virginia School of Medicine Biomedical Sciences program. My Ph.D. track is in Biophysics. Broadly I am interested in applying cryo-electron microscopy to determine structures to high resolution and biophysical assays to understand biological systems.

Background: In previous research I used solution NMR along with circular dichroism, fluorecence anisotropy and mass spectrometry to look at structural components of the Type 3 Secretion System from bacteria such as B. pseudomallei. I also have experience in tissue cell culture working with the obligate intracellular pathogen C. trachomatis. Here I helped design a new tool to allow us to study Chlamydia with more ease.

Where do I see myself in 5 years? Hopefully done with my Ph.D. and heading to do a post-doc abroad.

Publications with our group

Structural analysis of cross α-helical nanotubes provides insight into the designability of filamentous peptide nanomaterials. Fengbin Wang, Ordy Gnewou, Charles Modlin, Leticia C Beltran, Chunfu Xu, Zhangli Su, Puneet Juneja, Gevorg Grigoryan, Edward H Egelman, Vincent P Conticello Published in Nature communications, January 2021 (see publication)

Structures of filamentous viruses infecting hyperthermophilic archaea explain DNA stabilization in extreme environments. Fengbin Wang, Diana P Baquero, Leticia C Beltran, Zhangli Su, Tomasz Osinski, Weili Zheng, David Prangishvili, Mart Krupovic, Edward H Egelman Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, August 2020 (see publication)

The structures of two archaeal type IV pili illuminate evolutionary relationships. Fengbin Wang, Diana P Baquero, Zhangli Su, Leticia C Beltran, David Prangishvili, Mart Krupovic, Edward H Egelman Published in Nature communications, July 2020 (see publication)