Macromolecular science lies at the intersection of chemistry, biology, physics, and engineering, uncovering how large molecular structures form, function, and interact to shape everything from living cells to advanced materials. The CUNY Institute for Macromolecular Assemblies, based at City College of New York, embodies this mission, serving as a center dedicated to exploring the complex architecture of molecular structures and inspiring innovation across biology, chemistry, and engineering. Under the leadership of its director, Dr. Ruth Stark, a CUNY Distinguished Professor in the CCNY Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the institute has experienced more than two decades of interdisciplinary growth, collaboration, and discovery.
Dr. Ruth Stark. Photo Credit: CCNY.
The CUNY Institute for Macromolecular Assemblies, or MMA, was first founded at the College of Staten Island in 2002, where many faculty specialized in polymer chemistry. When reflecting on the origins of the institute, Dr. Stark notes that its creation was a CUNY initiative to establish “centers of research excellence that bridged campuses.”
“My part was really on the biopolymer side, but the goal was to unite biopolymers and synthetic polymers under one research umbrella,” Dr. Stark said. As the years passed, she recognized that City College was a more natural home for this work. “It made sense to move the institute’s home campus to City College, because that was where the center of mass was,” Dr. Stark said.
The relocation strengthened MMA’s ties with the New York Structural Biology Center and both CCNY’s Grove School of Engineering and the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, forming a hub for scientists who study both natural and designed molecular assemblies.
“Our research purpose is to expand the insights we get from natural, macromolecular bioassemblies and to look at them on the molecular scale,” Dr. Stark explained. “Those assemblies can inspire design, and that’s really the engineering side.”
The relationship, Dr. Stark added, is reciprocal, since understanding engineered assemblies can reveal how natural systems function. She calls this a “unique and aspirational theme” that distinguishes MMA from other research centers and institutes. At the MMA, rather than focusing on large-scale conferences, Dr. Stark prefers partnering with other CUNY initiatives and hosting intimate collaborative spaces where ideas can be shared freely. “It’s our style to put people in the room together,” she said of the institute’s monthly “chalk talks,” informal meetings where faculty exchange updates, solve problems and share their ideas. That emphasis on connection has been essential to maintaining a cross-campus institute that spans seven CUNY colleges. However, the multi-campus model brings both opportunities and challenges. “Although we’re all in New York City, we are not all in the same place geographically,” Dr. Stark explained. “If we want to have activities that encompass everyone, it’s really quite challenging to find a place and format that is accessible for everyone.”
To strengthen collaboration despite the distance, the institute launched a small-grant seed program that provides modest funding for joint projects among faculty and students. “It allows us to involve faculty and students from the other campuses,” Dr. Stark said, noting that it also helps recruit new participants, often from campuses with fewer research opportunities.
Dr. Stark is reluctant to single out defining scientific achievements, preferring instead to highlight the people who drive the work. She points to faculty such as Kevin Gardner, who conducts groundbreaking research in structural biology of protein environmental signaling, and colleagues Marilyn Gunner and David Jeruzalmi, who study the macromolecular assemblies that drive photosynthesis and DNA repair, respectively. But beyond any individual breakthrough, she takes pride in the institute’s training efforts.
A graphic showcasing the components of research at the MMA. Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Stark.
From community college students to Ph.D. candidates, the MMA nurtures the next generation of scientists through research experiences, mentorship, and professional development.
“Our students are the next generation,” Stark said. “It’s particularly important at this juncture because of the political things that are going on at the moment, and we strive to have something to offer them despite these uncertain times.”
Even when funding challenges threatened core programs, Dr. Stark and her team fought to preserve support for students. “That was a very challenging period,” she recalled this last year when their signature Ph.D. training program was terminated and later reinstated. “It’s a program that funds stipends for 15 or more PhD students, but we managed to recover.” For Dr. Stark, supporting underrepresented groups in STEM is not just an institutional initiative, it’s a reflection of CUNY’s student body itself. “It’s very natural for us,” Dr. Stark said. The institute offers both financial support and exposure to the research culture for students who “didn’t grow up in that culture of knowing and being geared to those careers.”
Through workshops, alumni talks, and cross-level gatherings that bring undergraduates and postbaccs together with doctoral students, the MMA helps students visualize their paths in science.
“Having a group that you can draw on is itself very potent,” Dr. Stark explained. “Getting exposure to what it takes to have a career like this is the value added by these programs.”
At the MMA interdisciplinary collaboration, she believes, is not an extra effort but simply “the way science is done.” The institute’s flexible structure makes partnerships a natural fit rather than a forced one. “Someone will say, ‘I’m stuck on this problem,’ and somebody else says, ‘I’m a physicist, and I know how to do that,'” Dr. Stark said. “Just having those informal contacts frequently is a catalyst.”
That openness extends to the institute’s partnerships with the Advanced Science Research Center and the New York Structural Biology Center, both of which are located just steps from Dr. Stark’s office. “We are connected physically as well as in terms of our work,” she said, emphasizing the importance of access to both high-end equipment and world-class expertise.
Students benefit importantly from this proximity, gaining hands-on experience with cutting-edge tools such as cryo-electron microscopes and solid-state NMR systems.”Our students get to use these instruments,” Dr. Stark said. “Not everyone has those opportunities.”
Looking toward the future, Dr. Stark envisions an institute that not only advances its research but also redefines how it is supported. “We need to look more to private sources and to partnerships with industry,” she said, noting that the shift is both necessary and right for students who often pursue careers beyond academia.
The MMA also hopes to integrate emerging technologies such as computational modeling and artificial intelligence into the institute’s work on understanding protein complexes and designing health therapies, “not just as a buzzword, but to really integrate it and continue innovating.”
Sofia is a graduate student at CUNY Brooklyn College, where she’s pursuing her M.S. in Media Studies. In addition to writing for The RICC, she’s a writer for the features section of Brooklyn College’s student-run newspaper, The Vanguard. She is also a dedicated writer for the Brooklyn News Service.