As a graduate student in Dr. Frank DiMaio’s lab, Davi is developing machine-learning methods for modeling proteins and their interactions with other molecules. This research will enable new ways of analyzing and designing biomolecules. He holds a B.Sc in Computer Science with a Minor in Biochemistry from Georgia Tech. He was awarded the UW’s College of Engineering Dean’s Fellowship. Read More
Peik is a graduate student in David Baker’s lab, where he is designing novel proteins for light-driven catalysis and electron transport in artificial photosynthetic systems. This research could enable them to harness light energy to produce fuels, fix CO2, and synthesize other chemical products. He holds a B.S in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the University of Idaho. Read More
Paul is a graduate student at the Baker Lab, working on development of novel deep learning methods for protein design. Specifically, he is working on methods for generation of novel DNA binding proteins. Previously Paul at Bayer (Berlin) and the Simons Machine Learning Center (New York) in machine learning research and development roles. Paul received a B.A. in Statistics from UC Berkeley. Read More
Jacob is interested in using the principles of synthetic biology and protein engineering to address prominent issues facing our world including environmental rehabilitation, clean water, and the sustainable manufacturing of textiles, goods, and chemicals. As a graduate student in the Baker lab, Jacob is working on developing deep generative models for protein design, hoping to someday use these tools to design new materials that support sustainable fashion. Traditional textile manufacturing generates toxic byproducts, but this may be alleviated with the use of de novo enzymes. Read More
Adam Chazin-Gray is a graduate student in David Baker’s lab. He is using computational protein design to expand the tools to communicate between cells. His project combines aspects of protein design, and synthetic biology to design synthetic cell signaling systems. This research has potential applications in treating a wide variety of human diseases, including many types of cancer and drug-resistant bacterial infections. He holds a B.A. in Biology & Neuroscience from Oberlin College. Read More
Naveen is interested in using synthetic biology to develop biologic solutions in global health and is mentored by Neil King. He hopes to design protein nanoparticles that further vaccine development and provide insight into the role of specific interactions during immune responses. He received a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Michigan. Read More
As a graduate student in David Baker’s lab at the Institute for Protein Design, Ivan Vulovic developed new computational methods and strategies to design protein assemblies that address modern challenges. This work has already been applied successfully to develop several new types of protein nanocages. One of the leading use cases involves integration of viral antigens into these designed protein nanoparticles, a concept which may soon yield a general-purpose and modular vaccine platform. Unlike existing vaccine technologies, designed nanoparticle platforms may be rapidly re-engineered to confront novel biological threats through modular replacement of their surface proteins. Read More
In 2019, Hao became the first student to graduate from our program. As a graduate student in the Baker lab, Hao designed protein-based building blocks that can self-assemble into protein filaments. His work was published in the journal Science and will potentially allow researchers to create entirely new materials not found in nature. He continues to study the emerging field of designed, self-assembling materials in the Baker lab as a postdoc. Read More
Yulai is co-advised by Professors David Baker in the Department of Biochemistry and William Catterall in the Department of Pharmacology. Yulai is interested in studying the physicochemical properties of transmembrane proteins. Based on this knowledge he aims to use computational approaches to design transmembrane nanopores for selective filtration, molecular sensing and sequencing. He holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Fudan University. Read More
David Juergens is a doctoral student in the David Baker lab in Biochemistry. His work focuses on using deep learning and data science to solve problems in computational protein design. These problems include the prediction of protein structure, prediction of amino acid sequences that fold into a desired state, and the design of functional proteins. David holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington. Read More