Dr. Gerald Buldak earned his B.A. in Biology from Illinois Wesleyan University. From there, he moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to pursue an M.S. in Biology, doing research in the Department of Microbiology under Dr. Gary J. Olsen. Dr. Olsen’s lab worked with that of Dr. Carl R. Woese, and at the time, was in the process of sequencing the complete genome of Methanococcus jannaschii, the first complete Archaeal genome to be sequenced. Dr. Buldak studied a related organism, Methanococcus voltae, generating random genomic DNA sequence data for comparative analysis between two related microorganisms with temperature optima at the opposite ends of a 50°C spectrum. From there, Dr. Buldak earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine in the lab of Dr. Sergei M. Mirkin, where he studied DNA sequences that had the ability to adopt the triple-helical H-DNA conformation. Dr. Buldak then did post-doctoral research at Loyola's Stritch School of Medicine in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, under Dr. Joseph W. Brewer. Dr. Brewer's lab focused on the homeostasis of the endoplasmic reticulum during B lymphocyte differentiation to antibody-secreting plasma cells. Dr. Buldak was interested in the role played by the transcription factor, Blimp-1, in this process. Dr. Buldak joined the Department of Biology in 2007 and currently teaches courses in genetics and immunology for undergraduates and the Master of Arts in Medical Sciences program. In his current role, Dr. Buldak is interested in the importance of visual elements as teaching tools and the effects of shifting lecture slides from a traditional “text-heavy” format to a largely visual one. Dr. Buldak has published portions of this work in the AAI (American Association of Immunologists) Newsletter and was invited to present to the Teaching Interests Group of AAI's Immunology 2020™ meeting. Dr. Buldak is an event Co-Host for the Autumn Immunology Conference held every November in Chicago. Dr. Buldak's interests outside of science include music, history, and spending time with his family (usually running the F1s to after-school activities).