Michelle Spiering

Michelle Spiering is an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Penn State University. Her work focuses on molecular mechanisms of DNA replication and repair, particularly in bacteriophage T4 systems.

• Education: B.S. from Carroll University (1995), Ph.D. from University of Michigan (2002), Postdoctoral Fellow at Penn State (2003-09)
• Key Collaborations: Li Lab (Van Andel Institute), Croquette Lab (magnetic tweezers applications)

Research emphasizes structural and functional analysis of replication machinery, including:

• T4 primosome assembly pathways
• Polymerase-helicase cooperative dynamics
• RNA primer-primase signaling mechanisms
• Molecular motor properties of replication enzymes
• Single-molecule biophysics approaches
• Applications in biotechnology and medicine

Publications span mechanistic studies of DNA replication components (2005-present), with recent work (2025) on helicase diffusive motion modeling. Awards include prestigious NIH NRSA and institutional honors from Carroll University and University of Michigan.