Topics and Expertise: Protein engineering

Computational biology and protein engineering expert will focus on cultivating collaboration.

Wells reflects on his trailblazing career in protein engineering

If DNA is the blueprint for every cell in the body, then proteins are the cell’s construction workers, forklifts, and building materials.

James Wells, PhD, whose pioneering innovations in protein engineering and technologies to identify small molecules to aid in drug discovery have yielded more than 60 patents, launched three companies, and created two UCSF technology centers, has been elected as a fellow to the National Academy of...

James Wells, PhD, chair of the School’s Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, has been elected as a member of the 2015 class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

William DeGrado, PhD, faculty member in the School’s Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, has been named the 2015 recipient of The Protein Society’s Stein and Moore Award.

Professor

I am interested in building proteins in living cells using new amino acids. By designing novel properties into the new amino acids, my lab probes biological processes in their native settings and engineer unique biomolecules to understand disease mechanisms and to develop new protein drugs.

Professor

My research seeks to invent approaches to engineer new biological functions at multiple scales, ranging from atomic details to macromolecular machines to cellular processes. By building new functions through a combination of computational design and experimental engineering, I also hope to learn...