Frieda Reichsman

Frieda Reichsman directs several biology-based projects that focus on multi-level modeling, connecting phenomena from molecular biology, genetics, physiology, and evolution. She has led the development of the educational game Geniverse to weave these topics together in a game where real-world genetics are applied to the fantastical species of dragons. She is particularly enamored of the molecular machines commonly known as proteins, and the ways in which their structure is intimately and logically tied to how they function. She designed hundreds of interactive 3D animations connecting molecular structure and function that have appeared in classrooms, research journals, and textbooks. At the University of Massachusetts she co-developed the “MyDNA” undergraduate course, including curriculum, websites for students and the public, and interactive activities. She holds a doctorate in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where as an NIH fellow, she also did her postdoctoral training.