Tamara Kinzer-Ursem

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Tamara Kinzer-Ursem received her B.S. in bioengineering from the University of Toledo and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan.

After receiving her Ph.D., she accepted a postdoctoral position in molecular neuroscience at Caltech. While there, her collaboration with Professor David Tirrell led to the engineering of neuronal proteins that are functionalized with bioorthogonal reactive groups, and also built microfluidic devices that enable quantitative, high-throughput biochemical assays. Her research has combined these techniques in the development of technologies that enable high-throughput, quantitative, characterization of protein network regulation. This interdisciplinary research has formed the focus of quantitatively studying the protein signaling networks that form the molecular basis of learning and memory — specifically, the processes that control neuronal synaptic strength.