Ben Krinkel
Ben Krinkel is a final-year PhD candidate at the University of Auckland’s School of Biological Sciences whose research details the structure and function of malic enzymes in cancer metabolism using these insights to develop novel anti-cancer therapies. His project integrates optimized recombinant expression and purification of malic enzyme isoforms with high-resolution X-ray crystallography, detailed enzyme kinetics and differential scanning fluorimetry to map active-site binding interactions and identify chemical scaffolds for iterative structure-guided optimization that selectively inhibit enzymatic activity. In the latter phase, he established cellular biology workflows, including metabolic flux analysis, to test lead inhibitors in triple-negative breast cancer and melanoma cell models, demonstrating dose-dependent impairments in proliferation and metabolic flux. A collaboration Ben established with the University of Michigan has accelerated high-throughput screening and in vivo validation efforts, substantially advancing translational prospects. Ben’s discoveries have been showcased at multiple international conferences, earning competitive scholarships and travel awards, and culminating in a recent publication in Cancer & Metabolism and submitted publication in Protein Science.
Abstracts this author is presenting: