Jessica Kramer

Jessica R. Kramer is an American biomedical engineer working as an Assistant Professor of Bio-engineering and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Utah.[1] Kramer’s research lab focuses on the synthesis and application of glycopolypeptides.

Jessica R. Kramer
Born
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of Utah
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Berkeley
Stanford University
Scientific career
FieldsBiomaterials, Polymer Chemistry, Glycobiology, Bioconjugations
InstitutionsUniversity of Utah
WebsiteThe Kramer Lab

Education

Kramer attended the University of Utah where she received an Honors Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Chemistry, following the biochemistry track. Kramer’s research under C. Dale Poulter contributed to her honors thesis, The Binding Specificity of Phospholipase C.[2] She then pursued a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she worked with Dr. Timothy Deming as her research advisor.[3][4] After graduate school, Kramer was awarded a University of California Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley while working with Carolyn Bertozzi. Kramer was also awarded a National Institute of Health NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship. During her fellowship at UC Berkeley, the Bertozzi lab moved to Stanford University, where Kramer continued her research.[5][6]

Career and research

Kramer began her career working in industrial research at Echelon Biosciences Inc. in Salt Lake City, Utah as a staff scientist during her undergraduate studies. She was part of a team synthesizing isoprenoid, phosphoinositide, and phospholipid product lines.[7] She also interned at HRL Laboratories in Malibu, California, where she worked with microbial fuel cells.[8]

Kramer has contributed to the field of glycopolypeptide research. During her graduate studies, she and Deming produced the first living polymerization of glycosylated NCAs utilizing C-linked sugars and linking lysine via amides to improve stability. These can be used as mimics of natural glycoproteins.[9] Additionally, she developed a purification method for α-amino acid-N-carboxyanhydride (NCA) monomers using flash chromatography. This purification method results in improved yields compared to recrystallization and is useful for purifying NCAs that are difficult to crystallize.[10] Kramer has also researched bioconjugation reactions of methionine, determining different electrophiles that can react efficiently with methionine, and the lack of pH effects.[11]

While completing her postdoctoral fellowship under Bertozzi, she studied the synthesis of protein glycodomain mimetics. Kramer designed a synthetic route to produce mucin glycodomain constructs using NCA polymerization. This research furthered mucin knowledge regarding its structure and properties.[12] With the Bertozzi lab, Kramer explored design and synthesis of specific glycopolypeptide ligands for receptors that play a critical role in microbial pathogen immunity. This was accomplished by using polymerization of glycosylated N-carboxyanhydrides.[13]

Currently, the Kramer Lab at the University of Utah is developing methods for glycocalyx engineering to study the surface of cancerous cells with long-term goals of new diagnostics and treatments for various types of cancer. Additionally, Kramer’s lab is researching cryopreservation of tissue and whole organs, as well as the development of synthetic human mucus.[14]

Awards and honors
  • NSF Career Award (2019)[15]
  • International Dream Chemistry Award (2017)[16]
  • Henkel Award for Outstanding Graduate Research in Polymer Chemistry, American Chemical Society (2015)[17]
  • Norma Stoddart Prize, UCLA Department of Chemistry (2013)[18]

References
  1. "Profile".
  2. "C. Dale Poulter - Department of Chemistry - The University of Utah". chem.utah.edu.
  3. "Deming, Timothy J. | UCLA Chemistry and Biochemistry". www.chemistry.ucla.edu.
  4. "Home Page". deming.seas.ucla.edu.
  5. "Carolyn Bertozzi | Department of Chemistry". chemistry.stanford.edu.
  6. "Bertozzi Research Group". bertozzigroup.stanford.edu.
  7. "Home". Echelon Biosciences.
  8. http://www.hrl.com/laboratories/labs_sml.html
  9. Kramer JR, Deming TJ, Glycopolypeptides via living polymerization of glycosylated-L-lysine N-carboxyanhydrides. J Am Chem Soc 2010 Oct 27;132(42):15068-71
  10. Kramer JR, Deming TJ, General method for purification of a-amino acid-n-carboxyanhydrides using flash chromatography.Biomacromolecules 2010 Dec 13;11(12):3668-72
  11. Kramer JR, Deming TJ, Reversible chemoselective tagging and functionalization of methionine containing peptides. Chem Commun (Camb) 2013 Jun 7;49(45):5144-6
  12. Kramer JR, Onoa B, Bustamante C, Bertozzi CR, Chemically tunable mucin chimeras assembled on living cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015 Oct 13;112(41):12574-9
  13. Zhou MN, Delaveris CS, Kramer JR, Kenkel JA, Engleman EG, Bertozzi CR, N-Carboxyanhydride Polymerization of Glycopolypeptides That Activate Antigen-Presenting Cells through Dectin-1 and Dectin-2. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2018 Mar 12;57(12):3137-3142
  14. "Jessica Kramer, Ph.D." my.eng.utah.edu.
  15. "NSF CAREER Award Recipients". February 26, 2019.
  16. "Jessica Kramer Receives International Award". December 6, 2017.
  17. "Henkel Award for Outstanding Graduate Research in Polymer Science and Engineering – PMSE".
  18. "2013 Departmental Awards Ceremony | UCLA Chemistry and Biochemistry". www.chemistry.ucla.edu.
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