“Metals open up the toolbox for the protein to be able to accomplish so much more,” Aaron Smith says. His new NSF and NIH funding will allow Smith’s lab to increase understanding of how one metal, iron, is involved in adding molecules to proteins after they are made. This process can significantly change a protein's function and play a role in disease. By focusing at the molecular level, "We think that we fit in very nicely in this research space,” Smith says. “We’re filling a niche that remains really uncovered at this point.”