Behind the Scenes of “Insights into Vesicular Monoamine Transporter 2” with Zhaowen Luo

There’s often a gap between groundbreaking discoveries and how they’re understood beyond specialist circles. My goal is to remove that barrier, turning dense, high-impact scientific findings into visuals that help researchers align faster, support clinical and educational contexts, and make complex mechanisms accessible without sacrificing accuracy.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a leading nonprofit institution focused on advancing cures for pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases. As a scientific visualization engineer within the Department of Structural Biology, I contribute to high-impact biomedical research by creating figures, illustrations, and animations for manuscripts, presentations, and digital platforms.

These visual assets are developed in close collaboration with PIs and their teams to ensure scientific accuracy and clarity. By enhancing communication and accelerating team alignment, my work supports the translation of complex structural data into actionable insights for research and clinical application.

My TITAN Health Awards–winning animation “Insights into Vesicular Monoamine Transporter 2” has had a measurable impact both in practice and among peers, as reflected by its BioImages 2025 recognition. The piece was created specifically to explain VMAT2’s role in brain function to audiences unfamiliar with the topic, turning dense structural biology into a replayable, shared mental model for seminars and conferences.

The BioImages win served as third-party validation within the scientific animation community that the piece balances atomistic rigor with narrative clarity and is purpose-built for slide-based research communication, which aligns directly with the use case BioImages outlines for this category of work.

The piece is inspired by the 2023 Nature study resolving VMAT2 in distinct conformations and in complex with key ligands. The intended message is that rigorous structural insights can be made more accessible: show the state changes over time, connect them to function, and make drug stabilization of states intuitive so scientists can reach meaningful discussion faster.

I mix atomic-detailed molecular machine models with a cinematic touch, using lighting, motion, and pacing to guide the viewer’s eye and make the science feel intuitive rather than overwhelming.

Good visuals make science easier to understand. In fields like structural biology, they help researchers and clinicians quickly get on the same page and make complex discoveries easier to share in talks, papers, and collaborations. By turning dense data into clear, engaging visuals, I help important research reach more people and make a stronger impact.

For public or conference presentations, I use animated human figures to show how neurological disorders affect behavior. Simple typography and clean motion graphics help keep the content easy to follow, allowing viewers to grasp key ideas quickly without feeling overwhelmed.

I’m really honored. This kind of recognition shows that visuals aren’t just a nice extra; they’re a core part of how science is shared and understood today. It also reinforces something I deeply believe: bringing visual storytelling into research early on helps teams communicate more effectively and make a stronger impact.

I entered it because the scientific discovery behind this animation is significant in both structural biology and neurological research, and because it clearly represents the kind of work I do as a biomedical visualizer.

The hardest part was finding the right balance between clarity and uncertainty. When you're animating something at the atomic level, it's easy to make guesses look like established facts. I had to be very intentional about showing what is known and making it clear where the science is still evolving.

Winning this award has definitely helped get my work noticed, both inside and outside my institution. It has opened up new collaborations and made it easier to show why visual storytelling should be part of research. I’m now fully booked with exciting projects, and there’s even more on the horizon.

– It is one of the most essential industries in human society.
– It is very evidence-based and heavily regulated.
– Interdisciplinary teams in science, design, data, and clinical practice produce the most durable solutions.

I am currently based in the U.S., even though I’m originally from China. China has one of the largest health-industry markets in the world, which makes its regulatory landscape highly influential even beyond its borders.

With the rapid development of AI, it is challenging to predict how the industry will evolve. However, I believe visualization as a tool for biomedical communication will continue to be essential.

If you are a scientific visualizer, the Association of Medical Illustrators is a great community for staying connected with peers. Because our profession is so specialized, it’s difficult to grow without communicating and sharing knowledge with others in the field.

I’m inspired by people who care deeply about both accuracy and empathy—scientists and educators who understand that being understood is just as important as being correct.

Start with what you want people to learn and the evidence behind it. Build the story around key moments, clearly show what is measured versus what is modeled, and design to address common misunderstandings. Then test it with experts. When the message is clear, the science goes further.

This project shows how digital storytelling can make even the most complex molecular biology feel clear and memorable. Integrating visualization early benefits investigators, clinicians, trainees, and the communities we serve.