Transition of Solvent Interaction Research from Basic Science to Applied Science

As a graduate course student, I studied the aggregation behavior of the wheat protein gluten, induced by changes in pH and ionic strength, thus beginning my research career in the field of solvent effects. The following 5 years were spent as a post-doctoral reseracher in the U.S., focused on protein-solvent interactions, which, according to my advisor, Dr. Timasheff, was too basic to be supported by academic grants. This study, however, answered a number of questions about how different solvents affect behavior of proteins in solution, e.g., a solubility behavior known as Hofmeister series. This research experience landed me an R position at a startup biotech company, Amgen, where knowledge on solvents played a fundamental role in protein refolding, formulation and chromatography. This demonstrates the unanticipated possibility that an un-funded, basic academic science study earlier can be transitioned later into an industrially-significant applied science.