The Duke NMR Center

The Duke Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Center (DMRSC) provides access to high field NMR instrumentation, training in the use of NMR methods, and expert consultation on advanced NMR applications.

The Center serves as a research resource and shared instrument facility for research programs at Duke and in the Southeastern region. The Center was established with funding from the National Science Foundation, the Biomedical Research Support Shared Instrumentation Grants Program of the National Institutes of Health, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center of the State of North Carolina, and Duke University. Over the past five years the Center has invested over $3M in the purchase of additional equipment including new 500 MHz and 700 MHz Bruker spectrometers equipped for small molecule elucidation and macromolecular structure and dynamics studies respectively. Additionally, the Center has three cryogenically cooled probes that provide the highest sensitivity for biological research with enhanced 13C detection. These purchases and upgrades ensure the availability of the highest performing NMR instrumentation to all users and keep the resource on the cutting edge of functionality. General guidelines for allocation of time on the NMR spectrometers and the operating policy of the NMR Center are established and periodically reviewed by the DMRSC Steering Committee and by CoreResearch@Duke.

News

High temperature calibration
April 24, 2023

When you perform a Variable Temperature (VT) NMR experiment, the displayed temperature is not necessarily the actual sample temperature. When …
Periodic Wall of Elements
February 3, 2023

Question: What would happen if you made a periodic table out of cube-shaped bricks, where each brick was made of …
Distortionless Enhancement by Polarization Transfer — DEPT
January 5, 2023

Distortionless Enhancement by Polarization Transfer (DEPT) is a carbon based NMR experiment that can aid in distinguishing between primary, secondary, tertiary, …

Our Team

OUR TEAM
RON VENTERS (VENTERS@DUKE.EDU)
Dr. Ronald A. Venters is a faculty member in the Radiology Department and assumed the role of Director of the facility in December of 2020. He has over 35 years of experience in the structure determination and dynamics of large biological macromolecules and in NMR methods development. He is actively involved with training investigators in these areas and in assisting them with their projects. He also brings significant experience in computation and software management.

DONALD MIKA (MIKA@DUKE.EDU)
Mr. Donald Mika is the facility’s Engineer and Instrument Specialist. He is experienced in the design and repair of high-field NMR spectrometers through previous employment as a development engineer and field analyst for two major spectrometer producers. With Don, we are able to operate the NMR facility essentially in a self-sufficient maintenance and repair mode with only the occasional need to purchase replacement parts.

BENJAMIN BOBAY (BEN.BOBAY@DUKE.EDU)
Dr. Benjamin G. Bobay is a faculty member in the Radiology Department and assumed the role of Assistant Director of the facility in December of 2020. He has over 20 years of experience in protein structure determination and protein:small ligand interactions. He dedicates half of his time to the Chemistry Department and the maintenance, operation, training, etc. of the FFSC NMR facility. He also brings experience in computational docking, molecular dynamics, and software management.