Karen Fleming

Fleming grew up in a family of doctors and nurses, and decided to study medicine at university.^[1] She eventually studied French and pre-medical studies at the University of Notre Dame.^[2] She realised that she did not like blood, so moved into scientific research instead.^[1] After graduating Fleming attended the Catholic University of the West, where she studied French language and culture, before moving to Washington, D.C. to work at the Embassy of Morocco.^[2] Fleming missed scientific research, and decided to work toward a doctorate at Georgetown University.^[1] Her PhD focussed on molecular biology and during her research she became increasingly interested in proteins.^[1] Fleming was a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University, where she worked with Donald Engelman in the Department of Molecular Biophysics.^[1] Here she investigated the interaction of transmembrane alpha helices.^[1]

In 2000 Fleming started her research laboratory at Johns Hopkins University.^[1] She continued to study the interactions of transmembrane helices, as well as investigating beta barrels.^[1][3] Her work on beta barrels allowed her research group to significantly increase the number of known membrane protein stabilities. She created a hydrophobicity scale to describe protein side-chains.^[4] Fleming performed some of the first measurements of the thermodynamics of protein folding.^[5][6] She developed a theoretical framework to describe the association of helices.^[7] In 2010 Fleming served as president of the Gibbs Society of Biological Thermodynamics.^[8] Fleming uses her understanding of protein interactions to monitor the maturation of human microorganisms.^[9]

Alongside her academic research, Fleming runs workshops on diversity and bias.^[1][10] During the workshops she discusses social science literature on gender bias and discrimination.^[11] The workshops evolved into workshops that cover confidence, the power of bystanders and positive actions that people can take to improve the research community.^[1] She maintains the blog Inclusive Excellence' which discusses initiatives to empower women scientists.^[12] Fleming was a founder of the Women of Hopkins exhibition, which profiled women members of faculty at Johns Hopkins University.^[13] She serves as Co-Chair of the Homewood Campus of Johns Hopkins University Women Faculty Forum.

Her awards and honours include:

• 2015 Diversity Leadership Council Award^[14]
• 2015 Chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Membrane Folding^[15]
• 2016 Biophysical Society Thomas E. Thompson Award^[16]
• 2019 Johns Hopkins University Provost's Prize for Faculty Excellence in Diversity^[17][18]
• 2020 Protein Society Carl Brändén Award^[5]
• 2023 Avanti Award in Lipids^[19]

• Fleming, Karen G; Ackerman, Anne L; Engelman, Donald M (1997). "The effect of point mutations on the free energy of transmembrane α-helix dimerization". Journal of Molecular Biology. 272 (2): 266–275. doi:10.1006/jmbi.1997.1236. ISSN 0022-2836. PMID 9299353.
• Moon, C. Preston; Fleming, Karen G. Side-chain hydrophobicity scale derived from transmembrane protein folding into lipid bilayers. National Academy of Sciences. OCLC 811395678.
• Fleming, Karen G.; Engelman, Donald M. (2001). "Specificity in transmembrane helix–helix interactions can define a hierarchy of stability for sequence variants". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 98 (25): 14340–14344. Bibcode:2001PNAS...9814340F. doi:10.1073/pnas.251367498. PMC 64683. PMID 11724930.

Fleming is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.^[1]