Zachary Miknis

After AH, I went to the University of Scranton and got degrees in Biology and Philosophy. Keeping up with the whole science theme, I entered the University at Buffalo to work on a Ph.D. in a biology related field and just finished my degree.

For the 99.99% of the population that has no clue what that means, structural biologists (also called X-ray crystallographers) are interested in determining the structures of proteins at atomic-level detail so we can design drugs to help with medically relevant conditions. Just like table salt or a diamond are crystals, we can also use various tricks to make pure protein samples to crystallize. Then we shine a beam of very intense focused X-rays on the crystal and use that data to determine where the atoms actually are in 3D. The results are pretty cool looking, and have generally been used to design most drugs you might take. I am going to be shortly starting a research position at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, MD.

Other than academic pursuits, I also got married last year and just moved to Northern VA. I get to travel every so oftenl and have had the chance to visit Colorado Springs CO, Washington DC, Madison WI, Ithaca NY, Knoxville TN, Las Vegas NV, and San Francisco CA.