UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Kenneth Keiler, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State, has been elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. Election as a Fellow recognizes members of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) who display “excellence, originality, and leadership” and have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of microbiology.
Research in Keiler's laboratory focuses on how cells make protein, particularly under stressful conditions. He discovered and characterized a system for protein quality control that is found in all bacteria and is required for growth or virulence in many pathogens. Keiler’s goal is to understand the fundamental biochemistry, genetics, and cell biology of this system and related pathways, and to use this knowledge to develop antibiotics and tools for basic research.
Keiler received the C.I. Noll Award for Excellence in Teaching by the Eberly College of Science Alumni Society in 2015, the Tershak Teaching Award from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2014, and a Tombros Faculty Fellowship from the Center for Excellence in Science Education in 2012.
Prior to joining the Penn State faculty in the fall of 2002, Keiler was a Department of Energy Biosciences Research Fellow at the Life Sciences Research Foundation of the Stanford University School of Medicine from1998 to 2002, and a Human Frontier Science Program Fellow at the Institut de Genetique et de Biologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire of the College de France from 1996 to 1997. Keiler earned a doctoral degree in biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1995, and a master's degree in biology and a bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry at Stanford University in 1989.