About
Dr. Lewicki, PhD
I'm Dr. Daniel Lewicki. My PhD is in molecular virology, and I write songs that teach science, math and English language arts for grades 6–9.
Why songs
Rhythm, rhyme and repetition help ideas stay in memory. Each song covers one topic, every fact is checked against real sources, and every video draws the ideas on screen as they're sung.
They move fast on purpose. Play them a few times, use the timestamps, and let the repeats do the work. The goal isn't to memorize every word. It's one more way into the material, alongside class notes and practice.
The research behind the science songs
Before the songs, I studied viruses. That background is behind the science songs, and especially the vaccine songs: the coronavirus spike protein in my first-author paper is the same kind of protein COVID-19 vaccines target.
Showed that the coronavirus spike protein grabs its cell receptor (CEACAM) as a paired unit, and that receptor binding reshapes the spike and pulls its two halves (S1 and S2) apart: early steps in how a coronavirus fuses with a cell to infect it. Research in Thomas Gallagher's lab, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Loyola University Medical Center.
From graduate research at Texas Christian University: compared the mutations that accelerated iron particles cause in a C. elegans gene with those caused by the space radiation found in low Earth orbit, as part of research on radiation risk in spaceflight.
For teachers
The songs are free to use in class. If you're teaching a topic that needs one, request a song. To reach me directly, see the contact page.