Katherine Franz

Katherine J. Franz is the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Chemistry at Duke University, where she has been a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry. She is also a Member of the Duke Cancer Institute since 2003. Franz received her B.A. from Wellesley College in 1995 and her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000. She advanced to the rank of Professor in 2015 and was appointed James B. Duke Distinguished Professor in 2025. Her career includes early-career recognition through awards such as the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program in 2005, Sloan Research Fellowship in Chemistry in 2008, and Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award in 2009.

The research in the Franz group elucidates the structural and functional consequences of metal ion coordination in biological systems, with a particular interest in the coordination chemistry biology employs to manage essential yet toxic metals like copper and iron. This understanding informs the development of new chemical tools to control biological metal ion location, speciation, and reactivity for therapeutic purposes, employing methods from synthesis, spectroscopy, and biochemistry. Franz has authored 94 publications, including recent contributions such as "Leveraging Vulnerabilities in Copper Trafficking for Synergistic Antifungal Activity" (ACS Chemical Biology, November 2025), "Copper Activates a Redox Switch to Reversibly Inhibit Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase" (Biochemistry, November 2025), "An Engineered Prodrug Selectively Suppresses β-Lactam-Resistant Bacteria in a Mixed Microbial Setting" (ACS Infectious Diseases, July 2025), "Intramolecular Histidine Cross-Links Formed via Copper-Catalyzed Oxidation of Histatin Peptides" (Journal of the American Chemical Society, April 2025), and "Histatin-5 interacts with cellular copper to promote antifungal activity against Candida albicans" (Metallomics, December 2023). She has received prestigious honors including the ACS National Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences (2020), Southern Chemists Award (2022), Charles H. Stone Award (2021), Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring (2016), and Dean’s Diversity Award (2020). Franz contributes to the field through editorial roles as Associate Editor for Metallomics since 2020 and on the Editorial Advisory Board of Inorganic Chemistry (2014), as well as committee service including the SBIC Council (2012) and organizing the 9th International BioMetals Symposium (2013).

Professional Email: katherine.franz@duke.edu