Episode #118: Unlocking the True Potential in Kids with Dr. Daniel Fried

             <br />Dr. Daniel Fried is Assistant Professor in Chemistry at Saint Peters University, has developed new methods and content for chemistry education in K-12 that incorporates pedagogies from Daniel's background in music and art. It’s very visual, tactile, and kids learn the concepts in a way that mirrors how students learn musical instruments.<br />Your Background<br />I grew up in Kingston, New York, and attended SUNY Binghamton as a Biochemistry major. I then completed my MS and Ph.D. in Chemistry at Yale University, where I worked in the laboratory of Alanna Schepartz and helped develop technology for fluorescent sensing of protein folded state. I then completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Ed Bayer at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, where I worked on a green energy project involving bacterial enzymes. I’m now an assistant professor of chemistry at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City. I’ve worked extensively to develop a methodology to bring high-level chemistry and biochemistry to kids.<br />What was it like for you as a student?<br />I was involved in music, art, and science as a kid. I was always torn about what career to pursue. I had great teachers in school, but as a child of two elementary school teachers, I had a tendency to analyze the curriculum I was using, as well as school culture itself. I always had the feeling that I wanted to create my own school someday but wasn’t totally sure what would be special about it. <br />What or who inspired you to focus on Chemistry?<br />I stumbled on chemistry while taking Organic Chemistry over the summer in college. I loved how the subject finally gave explanations about how living matter is put together and how it reacts. I started taking more courses in organic and biochemistry because I wanted to know how everything in the biological world was structured!<br />Can you tell me more about your research on engineering protein and enzymes?<br />During graduate school, I helped develop a technology that used fluore