Stacy Malaker

Stacy Malaker is Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry. Research in the Malaker laboratory will focus on developing mass spectrometry methods that will allow for the study of densely glycosylated proteins, called mucins. This interdisciplinary work combines techniques from analytical chemistry, chemical biology, biophysics, and biochemistry. Prior to joining Yale, Dr. Malaker obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in Biochemistry and Anthropology-Zoology. During this time, she worked at a core facility, performing peptide synthesis and using mass spectrometry for quality control. She then went on to receive her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Virginia in the laboratory of Professor Donald Hunt. There, her thesis work focused on enrichment and mass spectrometric identification of glycopeptides presented by the MHC class I and II processing pathways. Dr. Malaker continued to investigate the role of aberrant glycosylation in cancer as an NIH postdoctoral fellow in Professor Carolyn Bertozzi’s laboratory at Stanford University. She used mass spectrometry and glycobiology to investigate mucinase activity on glycoproteins, with the ultimate goal of characterizing cancer-derived mucins. Dr. Malaker’s expertise in mass spectrometry instrumentation and data analysis, combined with her experience in chemical biology and glycobiology, gives her laboratory a unique ability to tackle long-standing challenges associated with glycoproteomics.