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Dr. Oliver Clarke has been named a 2026 Schaefer Research Scholar at Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. The competitive award program is designed to catalyze promising science at a critical stage in a researcher’s career, helping bridge the gap between early ideas and sustained external funding.
Dr. Clarke, Associate Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics (in Anesthesiology), with tenure, is an internationally known expert in cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM). His lab studies how calcium signaling is triggered and controlled at the molecular level, focusing on the interaction between key channels and receptors that drive processes like muscle contraction. His laboratory also studies how the protein ankyrin-1 mediates membrane protein clustering and crosslinking to the spectrin-actin cytoskeleton which is critical to maintaining the shape and mechanical properties of the cell membrane. This research has a broad impact, by unraveling the structural basis of ankyrin-mediated membrane protein clustering and modulation of membrane curvature. His structural work using cryoEM and X-ray crystallography is helping illuminate mechanisms central to both normal physiology and disease.
This recognition underscores Dr. Clarke’s leadership in fundamental cellular structure and biophysics and strengthens Columbia Anesthesiology's momentum in advancing scientific discovery and patient care.
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