Amy E. Palmer PhD

Amy E. Palmer received her B.A. cum laude from Dartmouth College (1994) where she worked with Karen E. Wetterhahn on the toxicity of chromium compounds. She received her PhD in Chemistry from Stanford University (2001), under the direction of Edward I. Solomon, focusing on spectroscopic methods to characterize the electronic and geometric structure and function of multi-copper oxidases. She also obtained a Master's degree in Science Education from Stanford. Dr. Palmer was an F32 NIH-postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Nobel laureate Roger Y. Tsien at the University of California San Diego (2001-2005), where she developed a family of genetically encoded fluorescent calcium sensors and used them to examine localized calcium signaling in mammalian cells.

She is currently a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and BioFrontiers Institute, where she has been since 2005. The Palmer lab develops new technologies to interrogate signaling cascades in cells to understand how the actions of specific proteins, molecules, and ions contribute to cellular function. The Palmer Lab has developed: fluorescent sensors for metal ions to probe metal distribution, dynamics, and signaling in living cells; fluorescent tools for imaging host-pathogen interactions; optically integrated microfluidics to characterize and optimize fluorescent probes, and probe/aptamer platforms to tagging and tracking RNA in living cells. Professor Palmer is also passionate about teaching and has engaged in curriculum reform and course development in General Chemistry and Physical Chemistry.

These efforts focus on engaging students in active learning and promoting critical thinking and analytical reasoning. Professor Palmer strongly values mentoring and has trained 11 postdocs, 20 graduate students, and 37 undergraduates. Professor Palmer is the recipient of a Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship (2010, Chemistry), NSF CAREER award (2010), Ed Stiefel Young Investigator Award in Biological Inorganic Chemistry (2010), NIH Director’s Pioneer Award (2014), Beckman Center Award for Light Sheet Microscopy and Data Science (2021). She is on the editorial board of Biophysical Journal.