Petra Fromme PhD

Petra Fromme received her B.S. (Vordiplom) and M.S. (Diplom) in biochemistry from the Free University of Berlin, received her Ph.D. in chemistry and did her habilitation in physical chemistry at the Technical University of Berlin. She was an assistant and associate professor at the Max Volmer Institute before joining Arizona State University as a full professor in the School of Molecular Sciences. Professor Fromme is an affiliated member of the Department of Physics, a member of the graduate faculty in the plant biology and biological design graduate program and was awarded the Paul V Galvin Professorship in 2012. She was appointed by ASU President Michael Crow as the director of the Center for Applied Structural Discovery in 2014.

Her research interests are in studying the structure-to-function relationship of membrane proteins involved in bioenergy conversion and infectious diseases. She was an integral part of a team of ASU researchers and international colleagues that developed the technique of serial femtosecond nanocrystallography for analyzing proteins using high-intensity X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFEL). Professor Fromme has vast experience unraveling the structure and function of photosystem I and II proteins and ATP synthase, which are each crucial for solar energy conversion in our biosphere. Professor Fromme has published over 200 articles and is internationally recognized as a leader in photosynthesis, protein macromolecular crystallography using synchrotrons and protein nanocrystallography using XFELs.