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Assistant Professor
Chemistry & Biochemistry
Contact
(860) 832-2680
pfernandez@ccsu.edu
Office
Nicolaus Copernicus Hall
440-04
Tuesday
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Wednesday
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Thursday
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Or by appointment
Biography

Dr. Fernandez’s research explores how enzymes work at the molecular level and how their remarkable catalytic abilities can be harnessed for biotechnology and medicine. His group uses classical steady-state kinetics and measures kinetic isotope effects using UV–Vis spectrophotometry and NMR spectroscopy to uncover the mechanisms underlying enzyme function.

Building on this mechanistic understanding, Dr. Fernandez engineers enzymes and applies directed evolution to enhance their activity, selectivity, and stability for industrial applications. His research also draws inspiration from nature as a source of biologically active molecules, with a particular interest in discovering and characterizing natural products with medicinal potential. These compounds are evaluated against panels of enzyme targets to identify promising leads for drug discovery.

Education
Medicinal Chemistry
State University of New York at Buffalo
2020
Chemistry
University of the Philippines Diliman
2014
Chemistry
University of the Philippines Diliman
2007
Areas of Expertise

Mechanistic Enzymology, Physical-Organic Chemistry, Natural Products Chemistry

Publications, Research & Presentations

Fernandez, P. L.; Murkin, A. S. Mycobacterium tuberculosis D-alanine:D-alanine ligase as a case study in the measurement of competitive kinetic isotope effects for dimerization reactions. Bioorg. Chem. 2025, 158, 108332; DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2025.108332

Fernandez, P. L.; Richard, J. P. Adenylate Kinase-Catalyzed Reactions of AMP in Pieces: Specificity for Catalysis at the Nucleoside Activator and Dianion Catalytic Sites. Biochemistry, 2022, 61, 2766–2775; DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.2c00531

Fernandez, P. L.; Nagorski, R. W.; Cristobal, J. R.; Amyes, T. L.; Richard, J. P. Phosphodianion Activation of Enzymes for Catalysis of Central Metabolic Reactions. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 2694–2698; DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c13423

Fernandez, P. L.; Richard, J. P. Adenylate Kinase-Catalyzed Reaction of AMP in Pieces: Enzyme Activation for Phosphoryl Transfer to Phosphite Dianion. Biochemistry, 2021, 60, 2672–2676; DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.1c00535

Fernandez, P. L.; Murkin, A. S. Inverse Solvent Isotope Effects in Enzyme-Catalyzed Reactions. Molecules, 2020, 25, 1933; DOI: 10.3390/molecules25081933

Memberships & Affiliations

American Chemical Society, 2014–present

Courses Taught

Chem 200 - Foundations of Analytical Chemistry

Chem 201 - Foundations of Analytical Chemistry Laboratory