Harpur student spotlight: Naftali Panitz

While pharmaceutical drugs intend to provide relief, they can also cause unwanted side effects. Naftali Panitz dedicates his research to reducing this problem.

“What we’re doing is trying to make the release of drugs more selective to reduce the side effects of drugs,” Panitz said. “If you can make what you’re targeting more specific and selective, then you can reduce the (number) of other things that are going on and then the amount of side effects.”

Panitz, a senior majoring in biochemistry at Binghamton University, began this research during his junior year in spring 2018.

He is helping to design crosslinkers, which are mechanisms that connect the ingested drug to a protein in the body. Crosslinkers help the drug to stay inactive until it’s released under the right conditions within the body.

Panitz is now applying the crosslinker design to a chemotherapy drug called Taxol, a cancer drug that often harms healthy cells as well as cancer cells.

“We’re making it so the drug is not just all around in your bloodstream acting on all of the receptors that it can,” he said. “Cancer drugs can be quite toxic and the main problem with chemotherapeutic drugs is that they’re very damaging to healthy cells.”

Panitz has been researching crosslinkers alongside other students in the lab of Susan Bane, an organic and biological chemistry professor and director of the biochemistry program.

Researching the body’s chemical process has led Panitz to believe that man and machine are not so different after all.

“There’s a lot of things that I’ll learn about in my classes that I see parallels to with machines that humans make,” he said. “We make efficient machinery that already exists inside of us. I think through research, you can learn more about how they work, and if you know about how they work, you can recreate systems with the level of efficiency that we operate on, which is very high.”

Panitz always knew he would pursue science, as he had a science-focused education before coming to Binghamton. The New York City native attended a public high school on the Lower East Side called New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math High School (NEST+M).

Upon his arrival to Binghamton University, Panitz gravitated to a range of scientific fields. After starting out as a neuroscience major, he switched to biochemistry in his sophomore year after taking an organic chemistry class with Instructor Rebecca Kissling.

“I had a really positive experience with (Kissling),” Panitz said. “She actually influenced me to switch to biochemistry because she noted that I seemed to be a little more interested in the material science side.”

Although he dedicated his undergraduate years to biochemistry, Panitz is still interested in pursuing a range of other sciences in his future, including biotechnology, pharmacology, physical chemistry, computer science and even engineering.

His eagerness to tackle different career paths also carries over into his relationship with music.

“I play guitar, bass, piano, saxophone and the drums,” Panitz said. “I can’t really stay on one thing, which is evident with my studies and my instruments. I like to jump around a lot.”

Panitz always made sure to maintain his creative outlet throughout his academic career. After teaching himself piano at the age of 8, he continued to teach himself more instruments and played in his high school’s jazz band.

He also made sure to stay musically involved at Binghamton. During his freshman year, he joined a funk band as a saxophonist, and continued to get involved with other local bands throughout his undergraduate years.

“I think music is a very rewarding means of expression,” Panitz said. “You’re in this creative field and get immediate feedback when you work hard and figure out how to play something that sounds nice. It’s just another way to get some thoughts and ideas out.”

Although Panitz isn’t sure he’ll pursue research as a career, he remains grateful for the research opportunities he’s been given and positive about their societal impacts.

“It’s the hope that research will contribute to society,” Panitz said. “I think, overall, people doing research have almost uncharted and positive effects.”