Joachim Frank, Ph.D., is a professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and of Biological Sciences at Columbia University, and Distinguished Professor of the State University of New York at Albany. Born and educated in Germany, in his doctoral research he developed methods of digital image analysis that applied to electron microscopes. Fundamental processes of life are governed by a number of complicated molecules and the electron microscope, which uses electron beams instead of light, expands the possibilities to image these molecules. However, electron beams destroy biological structures. Between 1975 and 1986, Dr. Frank developed a method for analyzing and merging blurry two-dimensional images of the electron microscope into a sharp three-dimensional image. Electron microscope images provide knowledge that is important for the development of pharmaceuticals, among other things.