Damon Runyon Researchers

Meet Our Scientists
Ariana Peck, PhD

Dr. Peck is developing a new method to determine the three-dimensional structures of proteins. Though X-ray crystallography has determined protein structure for decades, many proteins involved in cancer form crystals that are a million-fold too small to be studied by this method. Applying the microscopy technique of electron cryotomography to these nanocrystals holds the potential to overcome this limitation and resolve the atomic architectures of these difficult-to-characterize proteins. Such detailed structural information is critical for understanding the molecular basis of cancer and accelerating drug discovery.

Project title: "Expanding the reach of structure determination with nanocrystal tomography"
Institution: California Institute of Technology
Named Award: The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research Fellow
Award Program: Fellow
Sponsor(s) / Mentor(s): Grant J. Jensen, PhD
Cancer Type: All Cancers
Research Area: Structural Biology