{"id":223,"date":"2018-07-03T16:12:54","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T20:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/kmclaughlin\/?page_id=223"},"modified":"2026-03-17T09:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T13:40:09","slug":"aboutkjm","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/kmclaughlin\/aboutkjm\/","title":{"rendered":"About Dr. McLaughlin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dr. Krystle J. McLaughlin is an Associate Professor in the Chemistry Department<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0Vassar College<\/a>, where she teaches Biochemistry,\u00a0 Biophysical Chemistry, the Biochemistry Senior Seminar, and Protein Crystallography.<\/p>\n

Research<\/a> in the McLaughlin Lab is focused on several diverse microbial systems including bacteria from the gut microbiome and key complexes in the spread of antibiotic resistance. The lab makes primary use of macromolecular x-ray crystallography, along with several biochemical & biophysical methods including fluorescence anisotropy, to investigate protein structure and function.<\/p>\n

Dr. McLaughlin is also interested in best practices in science pedagogy, most notably in developing Course-Based Undergraduate Research (CUREs) classes, such as her Protein Crystallography course which is a CURE that allows students to have an authentic research expreience in protein crystallography as part of the curriculum. She has also created and facilitated several workshops on research preparation for undergraduates, active learning techniques for teachers, and inclusive teaching best practices.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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More info:<\/em>\u00a0 Vassar Faculty Page<\/a>\u00a0| Google Scholar\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0Wikipedia Entry\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Social Media:\u00a0<\/em>Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| Bluesky<\/a>\u00a0| LinkedIn<\/a><\/p>\n

Publications:<\/em> NCBI Bibliography<\/a><\/p>\n

Curriculum Vitae:<\/em> CV-KJM-Apr25<\/a><\/p>\n

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Biography<\/h3>\n

Dr. Krystle J. McLaughlin is a proud Caribbean American, originally hailing from Tobago, the smaller “sister isle” in the twin island\u00a0Republic of Trinidad and Tobago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After graduating from\u00a0Bishop’s High School (Tobago)\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0she began her undergraduate\u00a0studies at\u00a0\u00a0Colgate University<\/a>, eventually earning a degree in physics in 2006. At Colgate University, Krystle discovered two passions: teaching and scientific research. \u00a0As a physics major, during her sophomore year she began tutoring younger physics students and found that she truly enjoyed helping them learn. Throughout her Colgate career, Krystle was able to be a teaching assistant and tutor several physics classes. Vibrant research experiences with Colgate professors cemented her interest in research.<\/p>\n

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“At Colgate University, Krystle discovered her two passions:\u00a0teaching and scientific research.”<\/em><\/h4>\n

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At Colgate, Krystle also distinguished herself as a student leader in several groups including the Colgate Society of Physics Students (SPS) and the Caribbean Students Association. For several years, Krystle also served as an elected member on the SPS National Council and also on the American Institute of Physics’ (AIP) Education Committee. This relationship with the SPS national office and the AIP continue today as Krystle lead a partnership with the SPS to host an annual Undergraduate Research Symposium at the American\u00a0Crystallographic\u00a0Association<\/a> (ACA) meeting and she introduced the first undergraduate poster award at the ACA annual meeting, the MiTeGen-Society of Physics Students Undergraduate Poster Prize<\/a>. She served as the ACA representative on the AIP Liaison Committee on Underrepresented Minorities (LCURM) from 2013-2022, chairing AIP-LCURM from 2018-2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In August 2006, Krystle entered into the Biophysics PhD program at the University of Rochester. She joined\u00a0Clara Kielkopf’s lab\u00a0<\/a>for her doctoral work, which was focused on the structural and biophysical basis of protein-RNA interactions.\u00a0 Krystle had many successes during graduate school and won several awards including the William F. Neuman Award from the Biophysics program, which is given to one outstanding biophysics student each year. She was also a recipient of the university-wide Elon Huntington Hooker Fellowship in recognition for her\u00a0research\u00a0at the University of Rochester.<\/p>\n

As a graduate student at the University of Rochester, Krystle continued to accept teaching opportunities while developing scientific research skills. In March 2010, Krystle was given the opportunity to be a guest lecturer in the Chemistry Department at\u00a0Hampton University<\/a>, with advisement from Dr. Shanthi Paranawithana, a Kielkopf Lab alumna.<\/p>\n

In summer 2011, Krystle\u00a0successfully\u00a0defended\u00a0her\u00a0thesis titled “Structural\u00a0and Thermodynamic Analysis of Protein-Nucleic Acid\u00a0Interactions” \u00a0for her doctorate in biophysics; earning the\u00a0George\u00a0V. Metzger award from the Biophysics program\u00a0for\u00a0“the most outstanding PhD thesis in Biophysics”.<\/p>\n

“In [graduate school], Krystle cultivated a love of macromolecular x-ray crystallography which still continues today.”<\/em><\/h4>\n

Next, Krystle worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.\u00a0Krystle’s research was funded in part by a prestigious\u00a0SPIRE<\/a>\u00a0(Seeding Postdoctoral Innovators in Research and Education) postdoctoral fellowship. With a deep interest in both teaching and research, Krystle was excited to be a part of the SPIRE postdoctoral program which seeks\u00a0”\u00a0To provide multi-dimensional professional development for science researchers and educators to succeed in academic careers, to bring engaging teaching methods into the classroom, and to increase diversity in science professions.”\u00a0\u00a0In Dr. Kielkopf’s lab, Krystle cultivated a love of macromolecular x-ray crystallography which still continues today.\u00a0At\u00a0UNC she used x-ray crystallography to characterize several proteins responsible for the transfer of virulence and antibiotic resistance factors between bacterial cells\u00a0in\u00a0Dr. Matthew Redinbo’s Lab<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As part of her SPIRE fellowship, Krystle had a year-long teaching placement at the\u00a0University\u00a0of North Carolina at Pembroke where she taught\u00a0Principles\u00a0of Biology and\u00a0facilitated\u00a0a new workshop for undergraduates\u00a0to help prepare for research experiences discussing topics such as establishing and\u00a0maintaining\u00a0a positive relationship with your mentor, lab\u00a0practices\u00a0of an effective researcher, and developing strategies to overcome challenges in lab. Next, Krystle became\u00a0a\u00a0Professor of\u00a0Practice in the\u00a0Department of Biological Sciences<\/a> at Lehigh University, where she taught several biology courses, maintained an undergraduate research group, and started a successful high school\u00a0outreach program called\u00a0PA DNA Day<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"In August 2017, she joined Vassar College<\/a>\u00a0as an Assistant Professor in\u00a0Chemistry<\/a> and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in July 2025. She teaches General Chemistry, Biochemistry,\u00a0 Biophysical Chemistry, the Biochemistry Senior Seminar, and Protein Crystallography. At Vassar, she helped to create a student group called the Alliance for Diversity in Science and Engineering (ADSE)<\/a> that supports underrepresented students in STEM.<\/p>\n

Dr. McLaughlin also serves the broader scientific community as part of several professional committees. She was an elected member of the National Academies US National Committee on Crystallography (USNC\/Cr)<\/a> and the chair of its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion subcommittee from 2020-2023. She has also served as\u00a0the ACA representative on the Societies Consortium on Sexual Harassment in STEMM from 2019-2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Currently she is a member of the RCSB PDB Training, Outreach, & Education Working Group<\/a>. The RCSB PDB is the US data center for the global Protein Data Bank (PDB) archive of 3D structure data for large biological molecules (proteins, DNA, and RNA) essential for research and education in fundamental biology, health, energy, and biotechnology.<\/p>\n

She also serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) Centers for Research on Structural Biology of Infectious Diseases (CRSTAL-ID) <\/a>and became co-chair of the advisory board\u00a0 in 2025. The Advisory Board makes recommendations to the CRSTAL-ID centers on future directions, provide advice on centers\u2019 operations, scientific progress, outreach to the scientific community, target selection approaches, and improving the 3D structure determination service to the scientific community.<\/p>\n

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Outside of lab, Krystle’s interests include reading, nostalgically indulging anything 90’s related, and\u00a0spending time with her husband, two daughters, and their energetic dog\u00a0Emmy <\/a>Rosalind Franklin<\/a>. Krystle also loves to dance, sing, and play the steeldrum. As an undergraduate she was lead singer in the alternative\/pop band Joint Account (3x winner of Colgate’s battle of the bands!), and her senior year fronted another band, Hypotnoose. During graduate school she was the lead singer of an all biophysicist rock band with her fellow graduate students. She was also a part-time member of the\u00a0Alfred St. John’sTrinidad and Tobago SteelBand<\/a>, where she played the\u00a0double tenor<\/a>, and appeared on the band’s 2009 Christmas album:\u00a0Caribbean Christmas Carnival<\/a>\u00a0 (listen on\u00a0Spotify<\/a>).\u00a0\u00a0At UNC, she danced with the competitive Tar Heel Raas student dance group during the 2012-2013 season. She hopes to one day start an all professor nineties cover band.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Dr. Krystle J. McLaughlin is an Associate Professor in the Chemistry Department\u00a0at\u00a0Vassar College, where she teaches Biochemistry,\u00a0 Biophysical Chemistry, the Biochemistry Senior Seminar, and Protein Crystallography. Research in the McLaughlin Lab is focused on several diverse microbial systems including bacteria from the gut microbiome and key complexes in the spread of antibiotic resistance. The lab Read more about About Dr. McLaughlin<\/span>[…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7374,"featured_media":742,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-223","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/kmclaughlin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/kmclaughlin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/kmclaughlin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/kmclaughlin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7374"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/kmclaughlin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/kmclaughlin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1189,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/kmclaughlin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/223\/revisions\/1189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/kmclaughlin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/kmclaughlin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}