The Kal Das Biomolecular Research Suite
Named in grateful recognition of the generosity of Kalyan “Kal” and Piali Das, M.D.
Parents of Sabrina Das ‘18
May 2022
The Kal Das Biomolecular Research Suite brings together six faculty members from the molecular and cellular end of biology and neuroscience with the biological end of chemistry, to carry out research to advance our understanding of life at the molecular level in modern, up-to-date facilities with their Skidmore undergraduate collaborators. The space provides Skidmore students the opportunity to engage and learn while conducting high quality research.
The suite is located on the second floor of the East Wing of the Billie Tisch Center for Integrated Sciences, BTCIS 207. It houses a 1,615-square-foot shared research lab and a 538-square-foot instrument room. The research suite also features an additional 1,240 square feet of specialized rooms — including for radioactive work, cell culture research, developmental research, protein crystallography set-up and analysis, and BSL-2 microbiology research — as well as a chemical preparation room, a write-up room, a computational room, and a walk-in cold room. Adjacent to the research suite is the teaching suite for biomolecular sciences, BTCIS 201, with two teaching labs, a laboratory preparation room, and two ancillary coursework rooms for laboratory courses in biochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, cell biology, and molecular neurobiology. Located next to the teaching suite is a shared autoclave room.
Between the modern facilities in the Kal Das Biomolecular Research Suite and the biomolecular teaching suite, instrumentation, and faculty teaching and mentorship, students using the spaces are well prepared for careers in the biomolecular sciences (e.g., pharmaceutical and biomedical industries, biotechnology, synthetic biology, bio-fuels, forensics, health sciences, and genetic engineering), as well as graduate programs (e.g., biochemistry, molecular biology, molecular neurobiology, molecular physiology, immunology, cancer biology, molecular biophysics, cell biology, and microbiology), and professional programs in health care (e.g., medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine).