About Me

Hi, name is Michael Plank, I am a PostDoc at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Arizona.

I studied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Regensburg and University of Vienna and obtained my PhD in Systems Biology from the University of Oxford with a thesis focused on the identification and characterization of methylation as a post-translational protein modification, using mass spectrometry. I went on to a first PostDoc at the University of Geneva, studying the role of protein kinases in regulating cell growth and continued working on the subject at the University of Arizona, with a particular focus on Protein Kinase A. The challenge of expressing how signaling proteins interplay in a quantitative and mathematical manner has been my great passion since the start of my scientific career. Just like the rest of the Systems Biology field, I have not yet found a satisfactory solution...

My academic journey is likely to end in a few months, but I believe my excitement for mass spectrometry, cell signaling and Systems Biology will stay with me.

Apart from some teaching assistant activities, I have taught a mass spectrometry course at the University of Geneva. I joined the CIRTL PostDoc Pathway Program in 2021 and co-taught Introduction to Systems Biology (MCB 480/580) in fall 2021 with my PI, Prof. Andrew Capaldi. Teaching introductory and advanced Systems Biology classes, as well as experimental design and data analysis are my main teaching interests for the future. While I am still experimenting with what kind of teacher I will be, I hope my approaches will serve to pass on my excitement, lead to long-term-retention and result in understanding supported by a network of densely connected concepts.