Dr. Joachim Frank is a preeminent scientist renowned for revolutionizing structural biology through groundbreaking imaging techniques. He currently serves as Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and Professor of Biological Sciences at Columbia University, where he has been a faculty member since 2008. Born in Germany in 1940, he received his physics education at the University of Freiburg and the University of Munich, completing his doctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry. Prior to his Columbia appointment, Dr. Frank spent over three decades at the Wadsworth Center in Albany, New York, where he established himself as a leading figure in electron microscopy research.
Dr. Frank is widely regarded as the founder of single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), a transformative technique that enables visualization of biological molecules at near-atomic resolution. His pioneering development of computational methods for three-dimensional reconstruction from two-dimensional electron microscope images fundamentally changed structural biology by allowing researchers to study complex biomolecules previously inaccessible through traditional methods. This seminal work earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017, which he shared with Jacques Dubochet and Richard Henderson for developing cryo-EM for high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution. The profound impact of Dr. Frank's innovations extends across multiple disciplines, particularly in elucidating ribosome structure and function, with significant implications for understanding protein synthesis and antibiotic development.
Beyond his technical achievements, Dr. Frank has been instrumental in cultivating the global cryo-EM community through leadership in scientific societies and conferences, including his influential role in the Gordon Conference on three-dimensional electron microscopy. His laboratory at Columbia University continues to advance cryo-EM technology while investigating the mechanisms of ribosomal translation and other cellular molecular machines. As an esteemed mentor, Dr. Frank has trained generations of researchers who now lead prominent programs worldwide. With ongoing research spanning approximately twenty projects focused on translocation and decoding mechanisms, Dr. Frank remains at the vanguard of structural biology, driving innovations that continue to illuminate the molecular foundations of life.
