Lewis E. Kay
University of Toronto
The Essentiality of Solution NMR Spectroscopy in the Post-AlphaFold Era
Monday, February 23, 8:00 PM
Moscone Center
Being named the 2026 Biophysical Society Lecturer is the highest annual award bestowed by the Biophysical Society. In addition to presenting the Annual Biophysical Society Lecture, the recipient provides a molecule or figure that depicts his/her research. That figure is used in the background design for that year’s Annual Meeting print and web announcements.
Lewis E. Kay is a molecular biophysicist recognized for his work in the development and application of solution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Kay is particularly well known for his studies of biomolecular dynamics and for his work exploring the role of dynamics in the function and misfunction of the molecular machines of the cell. He is a Professor of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry, and Chemistry at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children. Kay grew up in Edmonton, Alberta at about the same time as his beloved Edmonton Oilers were winning Stanley Cups. He received his B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Alberta in 1983 and his Ph.D. in Biophysics from Yale University in 1988, pursuant to which he spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow in Chemical Physics at the NIH. Professor Kay is a fellow of the Royal Societies of Canada and London.
About the Molecule: Methyl-TROSY based NMR spectrum of the 20S core particle proteasome from T. Acidophilum along with a timing diagram for a simple, yet powerful NMR experiment that forms the basis for studies of molecular machines. Solution NMR studies of he structural dynamics of many high molecular weight complexes are now possible.