CSB Research Faculty Profile: Heather Kroh

Posted by daviskd2 on Thursday, January 9, 2025 in News.

Heather Kroh, PhD, is a research assistant professor in the Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology department and currently works in the Lacy lab.

With a long-standing dedication to scientific education, she participates in many mentoring and outreach programs, but her favorite activity might just be picking up pretty rocks.

Meet Heather …

What project are you currently working on?

I currently study toxins secreted by the pathogenic bacterium Clostridioides difficile, applying antibody-based approaches to identify and define structural regions that are essential for toxin function and that have potential as therapeutic targets. I am also the Scientific Director of the CSB’s Biophysical Instrumentation Facility, where I assist users with technical theory, project and experimental design and troubleshooting.

What are the primary tools and techniques you use to answer these questions?

Cryo-electron microscopy has been one of the most valuable structural tools, as these protein complexes are large and have significant flexibility that makes crystallization difficult. To narrow down the list of candidates to move forward in the pipeline, I need to know an antibody’s affinity for a specific epitope, and for this, I rely on biophysical techniques such as ITC and MST. I also characterize the functional consequences of toxin neutralization with tissue culture work on different host cell lines.

What was your path to this position? What is your favorite part of being research faculty within a lab?

My doctoral training was as an enzymologist investigating pathogenic activation of the blood coagulation system. Multiple collaborations with protein crystallographers sparked my interest in structural biology, but it wasn’t until my postdoc that I had the opportunity to do X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy myself. That background in biophysical experimentation, paired with structural experience, allows me to support our CSB researchers in bridging the gap between these approaches within their own projects.

Research faculty exist in a somewhat unique niche. We are still able to devote much of our time to our own bench work, but we have the responsibility to build the lab’s research program in a real and sustained way. I can develop the beginning stages of many (too many!) projects, handing them off to new students and directly supporting those trainees as they learn and advance the project. One of my favorite parts is observing trainees’ growth over the years into independent, successful researchers.

What do you think is the key to a cohesive lab environment?

Communication—I know it’s a common answer to this question, but it really cannot be emphasized enough. It’s easy to exist in the bubbles of our individual projects and forget that we’re all moving in the same direction for the research. Having team members that listen to and support each other can make the long days at the bench less stressful.

What are some fun activities you like to do outside of lab?

I am a life-long rockhound! I’m an active member of a local club where we trade and discuss all types of mineral and rock specimens, but we also reach out to the public to educate them on the world that is just beneath our feet. I get to share my love of macro-crystals, not just the micro-crystals in the lab!