Rate My Professor Craig Vander Kooi

The research in the Vander Kooi lab centers on elucidating the mechanisms of physical interactions that underpin fundamental biological processes and human diseases at the atomic level. This work integrates structural biology tools, such as NMR and X-ray crystallography, with mass spectrometry, biochemical assays, cellular models, and animal systems. Current projects encompass structural analyses and engineering of glucan kinases and phosphatases for therapeutic purposes in collaboration with Dr. Matthew Gentry; investigations into the molecular underpinnings of hearing loss associated with GIPC3 mutations alongside Drs. Gregory Frolenkov and Bo Zhao; and development of molecular spatial imaging technologies as Co-Director of CASBR with Drs. Ramon Sun and Matthew Gentry. Vander Kooi has obtained substantial funding as Principal Investigator for NIH grants including "Taperin-based macromolecular complex at the base of stereocilia" (NIDCD, 2024–present) and "Deciphering the Mechanisms by which Long Chain Fatty Acid Oxidation Influences Microvesicular Steatosis" (NIDDK, 2025–present), as well as Co-Investigator roles on initiatives targeting glycogen metabolism in Ewing’s sarcoma (NCI, 2024–present), Lafora disease treatment (NINDS, 2023–present), and aberrant glycogen in lung adenocarcinoma (NCI, 2022–present). His contributions advance understanding in structural biology and biomolecular mechanisms.