Protein Design Eva-Maria Strauch is currently an acting instructor/translational investigator at the University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin’s Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She is inspired by the meticulous atomic details by which proteins are arranged and their involvement in almost all processes in life. She believes that if we understand how a virus’s proteins encode information about how to enter and hijack specific cells, we will identify its Achilles heel and be able to stop viral infections. We might also learn new ways to fight cancer cells.