Valentin Cracan, PhD

Academic Appointments

• Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Scintillon Institute

• Assistant Professor Adjunct, Department of Chemistry, Scripps Research

Honors & Awards

• NIH Pathway to Independence K99/R00 Award (2017)

• Best Poster Award, NHLBI/NIDDK Mitochondrial Symposium (2016)

• Outstanding Poster Presentation Prize, The New York Academy of Sciences (2016)

• Dziewiatkowski Award for Most Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation (2012)

• Chancellor’s Doctoral Fellowship, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2005)

Professional Education

• Postdoctoral, Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Molecular Biology (2018)

• Doctorate, University of Michigan (2012)

• Master’s, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2007)

• Undergraduate, Moldova State University, Republic of Moldova (2005)

Valentin received his undergraduate degree in Biology and Biochemistry from the Moldova State University in the Republic of Moldova in 2005 and his Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from University of Michigan in 2012, where he studied the intracellular pathway for trafficking of cobalamin  (vitamin B12) in the laboratory of Ruma Banerjee.  While in graduate school Valentin significantly contributed to our understanding of vitamin B12-dependent mutases (isomerases) and their small G-protein chaperones which are important for the cobalamin cofactor insertion. In 2012, he joined the laboratory of Vamsi Mootha at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. There, he obtained further training in mitochondrial biology by applying his experience in enzymology and biochemistry to find ways to alleviate consequences of lesions in the electron transport chain and developed tools to study redox metabolism. In the winter of 2018, Valentin joined the Scintillon Institute faculty as an Assistant Professor. He is a recipient of NIH Pathway to the Independence award from NIGMS.