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About

Clinton S. Potter is a pioneering figure in the field of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), whose career has been defined by a relentless drive to automate and refine structural biology workflows. Working at the intersection of instrumentation development and biological imaging, Potter has made transformative contributions to specimen preparation, grid handling, and data collection in electron microscopy. Perhaps his most celebrated achievement is the development of Spotiton, an innovative robotic system that deposits nanoliter volumes of sample onto grids with remarkable precision, enabling both standard vitrification and groundbreaking time-resolved cryo-EM experiments. His 2018 work addressing particle adsorption at the air–water interface — a persistent challenge plaguing structural studies — has garnered over 237 citations and fundamentally influenced how researchers approach sample preparation. His 2020 paper on time-resolved cryo-EM using Spotiton further extended these capabilities, accumulating 151 citations and opening new avenues for capturing fleeting molecular states. Beyond specimen preparation, Potter has advanced robotic grid loading, automated screening of two-dimensional crystals, and multiplexed nanoparticle analysis. Collectively, his innovations have helped transform cryo-EM from a painstaking manual process into a high-throughput, reproducible discipline, earning him widespread recognition across the structural biology community.