Chris Thibodeaux

Christopher J. Thibodeaux is a native of Louisiana, where he graduated valedictorian with bachelor's degrees in Biochemistry, Botany, and Chemistry from Louisiana State University.  He then entered graduate school in the lab of Hung-wen Liu at the University of Texas, Austin, where his Ph.D. focused on elucidating the chemical and kinetic mechanisms of enzyme catalysis.  Following graduation, he had postdoctoral stints in the labs of Taekjip Ha and Wilfred van der Donk at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he studied biomolecular single molecule fluorescence spectroscopy and peptide natural product biosynthesis, respectively.  In 2016, he began his independent career in the Chemistry Department at McGill University, where he was promoted to Associate Professor in 2023 and serves as Associate Director for the Centre de Recherche en Biologie Structurale.  His research is broadly aimed at combatting the problem of antimicrobial resistance by understanding the detailed molecular mechanisms of enzymes that biosynthesize antimicrobial compounds and enzymes that play roles in bacterial virulence.  A sub-focus of his research is to apply mass spectrometry-based techniques to better understand the role of molecular motions in protein function.  In his spare time, he enjoys the outdoors, cooking and eating spicy food, large family gatherings, watching (American) football and baseball, and spending time with his wife and three daughters.