Eliot Herman Dr. Eliot M Herman is a plant molecular biologist employed by the USDA/ARS and a Full Member of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center as well as an Adjunct Full Professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He was awarded a BA and MA degree from UC Santa Barbara and a Ph.D. degree from UC San Diego. He conducted postdoctoral research at CalTech and UC Riverside before being employed by the USDA/ARS at its Beltsville Facility. His primary research emphasis is in understanding how the protein component of legume seeds is regulated and assembled and how this knowledge can be employed to produce seeds with modified protein content. His research projects have included studies on the composition and assembly of seed protein storage organelles and the use of transgenic approaches to modify seed protein content. Dr. Herman's research has investigated the means to mitigate soybean allergy by producing low-allergen-content soybeans as an alternative plant-based strategy to the medical alternatives of avoidance and treatment. For his work on soybean allergens Dr. Herman was awarded the 2004 Plow Award from the US Secretary of Agriculture. Dr. Herman has served as NSF program director for Cellular Organization and Signal Transduction and as a Science Fellow stationed at the US Embassy in Stockholm with an assignment to address questions about genetic modification of plants in the Nordic countries.