Jay Kitt on Chasing High-Impact Biology With Raman Spectroscopy

In this SciX interview, Jay Kitt, a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Utah, discusses how an experiment he ran on his own initiative, and a commitment to quantitative measurement, shaped his Raman spectroscopy research on membrane biochemistry.

Kitt said he was drawn to the research question because it represented high-impact biology, which is an area he believes vibrational spectroscopy has explored relatively little. He has become fascinated with using Raman spectroscopy to interpret biochemical processes, though such work is challenging.

The project began when Kitt pitched his advisor, Joel Harris, on studying the interaction between cardiolipin and cytochrome c, which occurs in mitochondrial membranes. Kitt hoped to learn why the protein induces pore formation and ultimately leads to apoptosis. Harris initially considered the idea too ambitious. Undeterred, Kitt mentioned in passing that he was ordering cytochrome c while Harris was busy writing grants, then ran the first experiments to completion before revealing the results. Harris was enthusiastic, and the two laughed about the parallel: as a graduate student, Harris had once run an experiment he had been told not to do while his own advisor was out of town.

Kitt also discussed work involving gramicidin, which forms ion channels through an interaction between two membrane-spanning peptides rather than acting as a true pore former. Similar interactions, he suggested, may occur among other such peptides. By measuring the number of lipids associated with the peptide, the researchers could determine the size of the lipid shell surrounding it in the bilayer and how much of the bilayer it disrupts.

That matters because pore-forming peptides appear to exhibit a threshold effect, persisting in the bilayer for a time before causing it to collapse. A quantitative value for the shell size, Kitt said, could help researchers estimate how much peptide is needed to trigger that collapse. He credited Harris with teaching him to push spectroscopic data as far as possible toward hard numbers.

Further Reading

1. Kitt, J.; Workman, J., Jr.; Wetzel, W. Jay Kitt Named Spectroscopy's 2026 Emerging Leader in Molecular Spectroscopy. Spectroscopy Online, 2026. https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/jay-kitt-named-spectroscopy-s-2026-emerging-leader-in-molecular-spectroscopy (accessed October 14, 2026).