Andrew Santiago-Frangos is the M. Jane Williams and Valerie Vargo Presidential Assistant Professor of Biology. A molecular biologist with a focus on biochemistry and structural biology of natural bacterial immune systems, Dr. Santiago-Frangos comes to Penn from Montana State University, where he was a Postdoctoral Fellow. He is a leading junior scholar in his field, having published 19 publications since 2015 in prominent journals including Nature Communications, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., Current Biology, and Nat Struct Mol Biol. He has a patent which was licensed to a new startup company, VIRIS Detection System. Dr. Santiago-Frangos is the recipient of prestigious awards from the Life Sciences Research Foundation and the Burrough-Welcome Fund. He is the recipient of a highly competitive MOSAIC Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity from the NIH, National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Dr. Santiago-Frangos has mentored graduate and undergraduate students, including individuals from underrepresented groups in science. His enthusiasm for teaching and mentoring has been recognized by a teaching award while serving as a Ph.D. student teaching assistant at Johns Hopkins University and by recent awards from Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.