Biophysicist, Protein Crystallographer, Drug Designer and Science Writer.
Licenciado Degree, University of Valladolid, Spain, 1969. Physics, Mathematics.
Graduate work, University of Salamanca, 1969-1972. Biological Sciences.
Fullbright Scholarship for Graduate studies in the USA (1972).
Ph. D. University of Texas at Austin, 1978. Biophysics
Postdoc with M.G.Rossmann, Purdue University, 1979-1985.
Group Leader-Associate Research Fellow, Abbott Laboratories-Retired 2008.
Adjunct Professor to the Graduate Faculty, University of Illinois at Chicago. current
Little did I know that after my essay on the meaning of symmetry on the cathedral rose windows, I will be writing another brief posting soon thereafter on a related theme. However, it just so happened that on Friday, April 11, 2014 there was a lecture in one of the churches of my hometown, Lake […]
I have another blog posting ready, dealing with the determination of the first three-dimensional structures of viruses in late 1970’s and early 1980’s. I am just waiting for a copyright permission to reproduce an image. Hopefully, it will not be too long. In the meantime though, I cannot resist to write a few lines to […]
I need to apologize to the reader for not having written anything during the last few months. They have been months of frantic traveling and activity in the professional front, related to the celebration of the IYCr2014 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, January, 20-22, 2014. It was a rare opportunity to re-encounter old friends, […]
As the year 2014 approaches, more and more institutions all over the world prepare to celebrate the International Year of Crystallography (IYCr2014) with all kinds of activities and media to communicate to the lay public the importance of this obscure science. Crystallography is an arcane science to the majority of the world population; yet, its […]
The end result of the efforts of the crystallographic community is a set of Cartesian coordinates (x,y,z, for each atom) that represent the arrangement of the atoms in the molecules inside the crystal. These results have been stored since the beginnings of crystallography in databases. From the beginning, the Cambridge Crystallographic Database, now Cambridge Crystallographic […]
An op-ed article by Manil Suri (Professor of Mathematics, University of Maryland) in the New York Times on Monday, September 16 (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/16/opinion/how-to-fall-in-love-with-math.html) eloquently expresses the dismay of the author when he faces the shallow perception that the general public have for mathematics. The common expression “Do the math” typically implying the arithmetic of operating with […]
In the vernacular usage, the word ‘crystal’ resonates with purity, perfection, transparency and even durability. In ‘crystalore’, crystals are supposed to have special properties to energize and heal people. These exceptional attributes of crystals are stretched to the limit in expressions like ‘crystal gazing’ and ‘looking at the crystal ball’ implying that crystals allow […]
On August 1999, crystallographers from all over the world met in Glasgow, Scotland for the XVIIIth International Congress of Crystallography sponsored by the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr). The IUCr is the international association of crystallographic societies that was formed in 1948 to disseminate and promote the study and practice of crystallography all over the […]
An obituary in the New York Times published June 22, 2013 had a brief review of the life and societal contributions of Martin Gardiner Bernal (1937-2013) (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/arts/martin-bernal-black-athena-scholar-dies-at-76.html?_r=0), an Oriental studies scholar who taught Chinese history at Cornell University for thirty years. Two things drew my attention to the passing of Prof. Martin G. Bernal. Firstly, […]
April 2013 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of an amazing modern science named ‘crystallography’. This is the scientific thread that originated with the description and analysis of those mysterious and amazing pieces of matter that were referred to as ‘crystals’. Characterized by sparkling, well polished and sharply defined faces and intriguing geometrical shapes, […]
Cele Abad-Zapatero, Ph. D.
Research Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Institute for Tuberculosis Research
Center for Biomolecular Sciences
College of Pharmacy
Molecular Biology Research Building, Room 1052
University of Illinois Chicago
900 South Ashland Avenue
Chicago, IL 60607-7173 USA
Phone: +1.312.355.4105
Fax: +1.312.413.9303
Email: ude.ciu@zac
Dr. Cele Abad-Zapatero
765 Greenview Place
Lake Forest, IL 60045 USA
Email: moc.loa@1platx
Phone +1.847.913.5171
Center for Biomolecular Sciences
University of Illinois Chicago
Institute for Tuberculosis Research
University of Illinois Chicago