Mark Blenner received a BS in Chemical Engineering from Manhattan College, and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University. There, he studied conformational changes in proteins and peptides, with applications in environmental sensing and in vitro toxicity testing. Mark was an NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Medical School and the Immune Disease Institute, working with Dr. Timothy Springer engineering high affinity complexes involved in force sensing during blood clotting. He solved crystal structures of these engineered proteins to help explain how certain bonds increased in strength resulting from shear forces. Currently, Mark is an Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Clemson University. His research group engineers proteins and enzymes for novel properties and high specificity. His group also is developing expertise in systems biology, and is interested in developing collaborations with health researchers to translate new technologies into the clinic.