Jeramia Ory received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota, where he studied fatty acid: protein interactions using x-ray crystallography. He was a postdoc at the Washington University School of Medicine for six years, starting in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics department, where he was awarded an F32 to study protein dynamics using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. After completing his F32, he moved to the Molecular Microbiology department, where he began his study of copper homeostasis in the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans. While at the School of Medicine, he helped form the Washington University Postdoc Society and organize the first Annual Postdoc Symposium.
Jeramia then moved to the RCSB Protein Data Bank at Rutgers University, where he was a Biochemical Information Specialist and oversaw the initial draft of the ligand remediation project. In 2006 he accepted a position as an Assistant Professor of Biology at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA. While at King’s College, he taught Biochemistry, Genetics, and Introduction to Systems Biology. His research with undergraduates focused on bioinformatic and genomic characterization of copper tolerance pathways in environmental yeast.
In 2015 he moved back to the St. Louis area, accepting an Associate Professor of Biochemistry position at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, where he continued to teach Biochemistry and Genetics. In 2018 he completed the Certified Diversity Facilitrainer program through NCCJ St. Louis to help design and facilitate the self-awareness and cultural sensitivity pharmacy co-curriculum. After completing the training, equity and anti-racism work slowly took over his life and career, returning to NCCJ as a faculty member to train other people interested in becoming facilitators. In 2022, he was hired as a DEI Education Specialist with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.