Dr. Natalie Strynadka, a professor in the faculty of medicine’s department of biochemistry and molecular biology, has been awarded with UBC’s highest honour conferred on a faculty member.
Dr. Natalie Strynadka. Photo credit: The Royal Society
The University Killam Professorship recognizes exceptional teachers and researchers who are leaders in their fields, and who have received international recognition for their talents and achievements.
Dr. Strynadka’s research addresses the critical global health problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Her research is focused on understanding, at an atomic level, how antibiotic resistance mechanisms work in bacteria, and on characterizing and designing novel treatments and ways to inhibit disease-causing bacteria.
Dr. Strynadka is a visionary leader in the atomic analysis of membrane protein assemblies underlying infection and one of the first in her field to use cryogenic electron microscopy for this work. She has received ongoing national and international recognition for her research, including as a Fellow of the Biophysical Society of Canada; Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada; and Fellow of the Royal Society, London.
“I am very honoured to receive this recognition from UBC,” Dr. Strynadka said. “The award reflects directly the amazing trainees and research scientists of our laboratory, whose multifaceted abilities, energy and curiosity for science have fuelled our anti-infective research over the past two decades.”
This year, Dr. Strynadka is one of three new University Killam Professors at UBC.