Peter Kahn

Papers

Total Citations

157

H-Index

About

Peter Kahn is a pioneering structural biologist whose work has revolutionized cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) specimen preparation. His primary research focuses on developing automated vitrification technologies that solve one of the field's most persistent bottlenecks: reliably producing high-quality, ice-thin samples for imaging. Kahn's major contributions include the invention of the Spotiton robot, a novel piezo-electric dispensing system that enables time-resolved cryo-EM by rapidly mixing and vitrifying samples in milliseconds. His landmark 2020 paper on "Time-resolved cryo-EM using Spotiton" has garnered 151 citations, underscoring its impact on capturing dynamic biological processes at near-atomic resolution. Alongside the Chameleon vitrification robot, these tools have transformed cryo-EM from a painstaking manual process into a streamlined, reproducible workflow. Kahn's work has been instrumental in democratizing high-resolution structural biology, allowing researchers worldwide to study previously intractable protein complexes and transient states. His innovations continue to push the boundaries of what can be visualized, making him a key figure in the ongoing automation revolution in cryo-EM.