Congratulations to Chemistry Professor Gerald Audette for being elected as vice president (and president-elect) of the American Crystallographic Association (ACA). The ACA’s mission is to promote and preserve crystallography, structural science, and allied disciplines, and to support students, young scientists, and established researchers in the structural sciences. Crystallography is relevant to scientists dealing with molecules, including chemists, biologists, material scientists, bioengineers, mathematicians, mineralogists, physicists, and scientists focused on pharmaceutical drug discovery.

During his three-year term (2024-2026), Audette, who is also the vice Chair of the Canadian National Committee for Crystallography, which represents Canada at the International Union of Crystallography, will lead the ACA and the North American Crystallographic community as it works toward the 27th Congress of the IUCr being held in Calgary in August 2026.

Audette’s research is focused on protein crystallography, bionanotechnology, and structural biochemistry. In particular, his research explores the correlation between protein structure and biological activity of proteins involved in lateral DNA transfer and bacterial evolution. He is the co-editor of multiple books, including volumes 1–4 of the Jenny Stanford Series on Nanomedicine, and is a subject editor of structural chemistry and crystallography for the journal FACETS.