Julie Forman-Kay is program head in molecular medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. She received her B.Sc. in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her Ph.D. in molecular biophysics andd biochemistry from Yale University. The major focus of her lab is to provide biological insights into how dynamic properties of proteins are related to function and methodological tools to enable better understanding of dynamic and disordered states. Most recently, her lab has probed the biophysics of protein phase separation and how it regulates cellular condensates and biological function.
Julie Forman-Kay
Program head
Hospital for Sick Children
From this contributor
How microscopic ‘condensates’ in cells might contribute to autism
A controversial idea about how cells compartmentalize their contents into droplets — like beads of oil in water — could be key to understanding autism, says Julie Forman-Kay.
How microscopic ‘condensates’ in cells might contribute to autism
By
Angie Voyles Askham
23 February 2021 | 7 min read
Explore more from The Transmitter
Betting blind on AI and the scientific mind
If the struggle to articulate an idea is part of how you come to understand it, then tools that bypass that struggle might degrade your capacity for the kind of thinking that matters most for actual discovery.
Betting blind on AI and the scientific mind
If the struggle to articulate an idea is part of how you come to understand it, then tools that bypass that struggle might degrade your capacity for the kind of thinking that matters most for actual discovery.
By
Tim Requarth
2 February 2026 | 11 min read
PIEZO channels are opening the study of mechanosensation in unexpected places
The force-activated ion channels underlie the senses of touch and proprioception. Now scientists are using them as a tool to explore molecular mechanisms at work in internal organs, including the heart, bladder, uterus and kidney.
PIEZO channels are opening the study of mechanosensation in unexpected places
The force-activated ion channels underlie the senses of touch and proprioception. Now scientists are using them as a tool to explore molecular mechanisms at work in internal organs, including the heart, bladder, uterus and kidney.
By
Calli McMurray
30 January 2026 | 6 min read
Latest iteration of U.S. federal autism committee comes under fire
The new panel “represents a radical departure from all past rosters,” says autism researcher Helen Tager-Flusberg.
Latest iteration of U.S. federal autism committee comes under fire
The new panel “represents a radical departure from all past rosters,” says autism researcher Helen Tager-Flusberg.
By
Angie Voyles Askham
29 January 2026 | 9 min read