About
A University Scholar and Honors student, Isaac Kresse is pursuing dual degrees in chemistry and computer engineering in order to harness the power of algorithmic processing to discern otherwise invisible patterns in the vast amounts of data that biochemical experiments often generate. Kresse’s interest in chemistry, first sparked at Gatton Academy, a math-and-science-focused school in his home state of Kentucky, has led him to conduct research not only at the lab of Northeastern Professor John Engen, but also at SINTEF, an independent research organization in Trondheim, Norway, and at the National University of Singapore. Kresse’s next research position will be at Harvard Medical School, where he will be tasked with developing microfluidics to enable single-cell genomic analysis of brain cells. With the Fulbright Award he earned in 2019, Isaac will conduct research on these proteins at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich. The Fulbright will allow Isaac to pursue his passion for understanding the biochemical mechanisms underlying life. After the Fulbright, he’ll apply to PhD programs to study biochemistry with the goal of pursuing a career in academia.
A University Scholar and Honors student, Isaac Kresse is pursuing dual degrees in chemistry and computer engineering in order to harness the power of algorithmic processing to discern otherwise invisible patterns in the vast amounts of data that biochemical experiments often generate. Kresse’s interest in chemistry, first sparked at Gatton Academy, a math-and-science-focused school in his home state of Kentucky, has led him to conduct research not only at the lab of Northeastern Professor John Engen, but also at SINTEF, an independent research organization in Trondheim, Norway, and at the National University of Singapore. Kresse’s next research position will be at Harvard Medical School, where he will be tasked with developing microfluidics to enable single-cell genomic analysis of brain cells. With the Fulbright Award he earned in 2019, Isaac will conduct research on these proteins at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich. The Fulbright will allow Isaac to pursue his passion for understanding the biochemical mechanisms underlying life. After the Fulbright, he’ll apply to PhD programs to study biochemistry with the goal of pursuing a career in academia.
Isaac's Timeline
Pre NU
Kentucky's Gatton Academy
At Gatton Academy, Isaac gained his first research experience in a physical chemistry lab and took many college-level chemistry courses.
Year 1
Working in Protein Dynamics Lab
In Professor John Engen‘s protein dynamics lab Isaac focused on improving the processing of data on how proteins move and function.
Year 3
Global Co-ops
For his first co-op, Isaac worked at SINTEF, an independent research organization in Trondheim, Norway. A year later, he did his second co-op at the National University of Singapore as an undergraduate research assistant.
Year 4
Earning the Goldwater Scholarship
Isaac was one of the four Northeastern students to win the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship in 2018.
Year 4
A Third Co-op at Harvard Medical School
Isaac conducted his third co-op in Steven McCarroll’s human genomics lab at Harvard Medical School, where he worked to improve a technique developed by the lab called Drop-seq.
Year 5
Awarded the Fulbright Scholarship
Isaac was one of the 2019 awardees of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship, which he will use to study the role of chaperone proteins in age-related diseases such as Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s.
Post NU
Studying Age-Related Diseases in Germany
Isaac will use his Fulbright at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich. After the Fulbright, he’ll apply to PhD programs to study biochemistry with the goal of pursuing a career in academia.