Jacob Mattingly, PhD

Biochemist and Structural Biologist

Structural biologist and biochemist with 7 years of experience leading collaborative research projects.

Focused on end-to-end cryo-EM structure delivery, workflow productivity advancement, and insights into mechanism and drug design principles.

Atlanta, GA jacob.mattingly@gmail.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacobmattingly ORCID: 0000-0003-0202-915X
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Selected Impacts

  • Cryo-EM: led collaborative projects resulting in 3 first-author manuscripts and 12 first-author PDB entries.
  • Platform and productivity advancement: standardized automated workflows cutting time to final models from weeks to days.
  • Leadership: managed data collection operations at a university EM core and mentored 10+ colleagues.

Key Technical Skills

Cryo-EM

  • Grid preparation and data collection
  • Single-particle data processing
  • Molecular modeling

Protein/RNA biochemistry

  • Protein/RNA overexpression and purification
  • In vitro transcription and translation
  • Bacterial and mammalian cell culture
  • Molecular cloning and mutagenesis

Computation/automation

  • Linux and Bash
  • System administration
  • Data processing workflow automation

Research Experience

Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Emory University

Jan 2025 - Present

  • Led project determining mechanisms of oligomerization and substrate binding of bacterial 3’-to-5’ exoribonuclease YhaM using single-particle cryo-EM (2.4 – 3.4 Å resolution)
  • Interpreted single-stranded RNA-bound reconstructions to guide hypothesis-driven sample preparation refinement, enabling double-stranded RNA-bound structures clarifying substrate engagement

Graduate Researcher - Emory University

Sept 2018 - Dec 2024

  • Led project using cryo-EM to determine mechanism for aminoglycoside antibiotic evasion of 16S rRNA methylation-associated resistance and principles for improved drug design (2.2 – 2.6 Å resolution)
  • Drove investigation of IF2-dependent translation initiation quality control on rare start codons, defining how IF2 preserves mRNA reading frame during start-site selection

Education

PhD, Biochemistry/Structural Biology - Emory University (Atlanta, GA), 2018 - 2024

Dissertation: RNA and Protein Features Controlling Bacterial Translational Fidelity

BS, Chemistry and Philosophy - University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY), 2012 - 2016

Selected Publications

Mattingly, JM*, Liposka, A*, Tanquary, JR*, et al (2025). Structural insights into RNA recognition by the Staphylococcus aureus exoribonuclease YhaM. Under review.

Dey D*, Mattingly JM*, et al (2025). Basis for selective drug evasion of an aminoglycoside-resistance ribosomal RNA modification. Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63278-5

Mattingly JM, et al (2024). Structural analysis of noncanonical translation initiation complexes. J. Biol. Chem. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107743