Biophysics of Nuclear Organization

About Amy

Science

Dr. Amy R. Strom is a quantitative molecular biologist from the United States currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University.

Dr. Strom has received multiple prestigious grants and awards, including a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence grant from the National Cancer Institute to fund 3 years of research in her independent career, a Life Science Research Foundation Fellowship through the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research to fund her postdoctoral studies, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program grant to fund her predoctoral studies, and an Outstanding Graduate Instructor award at UC Berkeley for her excellent instruction. Recently, she was recognized by the Blavatnik Foundation for their 2024 Regional Postdoc Award.

After graduating with Highest Honors from the University of Michigan for her B.S. degree, Dr. Strom went on to receive her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Soft Living Matter Group run by Cliff Brangwynne at Princeton University, and is mentored for her National Cancer Institute grant by Cigall Kadoch at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard.

In her independent scientific career, Dr. Strom will utilize endogenous and synthetic systems in cultured human cells to quantitatively investigate the biophysical mechanisms of nuclear organization and mechanics, chromatin remodeling, and transcriptional activation and silencing. Nuclear disorganization and dysfunction are hallmarks of aging-related diseases including cancer, so this work has applications in aging and cancer prevention and therapeutics.

Outreach

In addition to research, Dr. Strom organizes efforts to increase diversity, equity and inclusion in academia and advocate for mental health transparency and resources. She initiated and directed peer mentorship groups at her undergraduate and graduate institutions, and participates in Women in Science initiatives.

Life

Outside of the lab, Dr. Strom is an avid hiker and wildlife photographer (scroll to the bottom of the Gallery page to see some of her work). She enjoys hobbies including painting, biking, and making music.

Research Highlights

Specificity from disorder

Lack of structure in disordered regions of proteins has been equated to lack specificity in their protein-protein interactions, but recently, a 'molecular grammar' has been uncovered that explains how disordered regions can mediate specific interactions.

Patil*, Strom* et al. Cell (2023).

Disordered compartments

Membrane-less compartments that arise from self-interactions of disordered proteins can engulf and sequester DNA sequences away from macromolecular machines, altering their transcriptional state, as with heterochromatin.

Strom et al. Nature (2017).

Engineering interfaces

Compartments can exhibit liquid-like emergent properties including interfacial tension, which can be engineered to apply force on cellular objects and, for example, mediate on-demand precision genome reorganization.

Strom*, Kim*, et al. Cell (2024).