Stacy Malaker

Abstract

The tattoo on Stacy Malaker’s ankle bears inky testament to her fascination with glycobiology. It depicts the core of a sugar molecule—a six-membered oxane ring, arranged in the classic chair configuration. “I figured I’ve devoted my entire career/life to glycobiology, so it made a little bit of sense,” she says. Despite the simple elegance of the tattoo, Malaker’s research involves more complex sugar chains called glycans. These unite with proteins to form glycoproteins such as mucins, which are major components of mucus and provide a protective barrier for tissues and organs. Malaker, an assistant professor of chemistry at Yale University, is developing mass spectrometry methods to analyze and understand mucins, which also play various roles in cancer and lung diseases. She hopes the research could eventually provide better ways to diagnose and monitor such conditions. “The area that she’s specializing in—mucin biology—is so important,” says Benjamin Garcia , a mass