Faculty

James K. Chen, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Research Interests:

Developmental signaling pathways and their roles in embryonic patterning and oncogenesis; zebrafish models of tissue patterning and regeneration; synthetic chemistry and chemical biology.

Gheorghe Chistol , Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Research Interests:

Chistol Lab is using real-time single-molecule imaging to: (i) study how eukaryotes replicate/repair their DNA, (ii) dissect molecular mechanisms involved in maintaining large/complex genomes, and (iii) understand how massive multi-subunit molecular machines like the replisome are regulated.

Karlene Cimprich, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Research Interests:

Genome stability pathways and their roles in cancer and other human diseases; DNA damage response pathways and DNA replication; the interface between RNA processing and transcription with genome stability.

James E. Ferrell, Jr., M.D., Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Research Interests:

Cell cycle regulation, especially M-phase regulation, in Xenopus embryos and mammalian cell lines; systems biology of signal transduction pathways.

Nathanael Gray, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Research Interests:

The Gray Laboratory develops first-in-class chemical probes that are used to gain new biological insights into cellular processes that drive cancer and other diseases, and to pharmacologically validate potential clinically relevant targets. We take an integrative approach that combines medicinal chemistry, structural biology, biochemistry and molecular and cell biology to develop new therapeutic strategies. Our work has contributed to several approved and clinical stage drugs targeting BCR-ABL, Sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor (S1PR), EGFR, EML4-ALK and CDK7. We have also developed numerous widely used chemical probes. Our lab also develops new technologies for targeting challenging targets include ‘proximity-based’ therapeutics such as ligase recruiting degraders and covalent inhibitors targeting cysteine, lysine, tyrosine and aspartic acid.

Kevin Grimes, M.D.

Professor

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Research Interests:

Translation of promising research discoveries into novel therapeutics and diagnostics; discovery and development of new drugs, biologics, and diagnostics; repurposing existing drugs against new targets for new clinical indications; developing novel therapeutics and diagnostics for neglected global health problems; the role of non canonical amino acids in human disease.

Daniel F. Jarosz, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Research Interests:

Protein conformational switches in evolution, disease, and development; molecular mechanisms driving mutational robustness in pathogens and cancer in complex cellular systems; chemical biology, cell signaling, and quantitative genetics.

Nicole Martinez, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Chemical and Systems Biology and of Development Biology, ChEM-H Institute Scholar, and Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator

Research Interests:

The Martinez lab studies RNA regulatory mechanisms that control gene expression. We focus on mRNA processing, RNA modifications and their roles in development and disease.

Daria Mochly-Rosen, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Research Interests:

Protein kinase C signaling in normal & disease states; mitochondrial function and dynamics in normal & disease states; oxidative stress and aldehydic load; protein-protein interaction; drug discovery.

Kacper Rogala, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Research Interests:

How are nutrients recognized by their protein sensors? How is their transport across cellular and intracellular membranes regulated? And, how is nutrient sensing integrated with other chemical signals, such as hormones, to determine cellular decisions, especially the decision: to grow or not to grow? We are a team of structural and chemical biologists aiming to answer these questions at the level of ångstroms, nanometers, and micrometers. Many proteins in these pathways are deregulated in cancer, and we are developing targeted chemical probes to modulate their activity in cells and organisms.

Thomas J. Wandless, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Research Interests:

Cellular mechanisms responsible for protein quality control surveillance and degradation; invention of new technologies to enable biomedical research; synthetic chemistry and chemical biology.

Joanna Wysocka, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Research Interests:

Epigenetic regulation of development; cis-regulatory elements; chromatin modification and remodeling; stem cell self-renewal and differentiation; neural crest and formation of the human face.

Philip Beachy, Ph.D.

Professor

Departments of Biochemisty and Developmental Biology

Research Interests:

The Beachy lab studies the function of Hedgehog proteins and other extracellular signals in morphogenesis (pattern formation) and in injury repair and regeneration (pattern maintenance). They study how the distribution of such signals is regulated in tissues, how cells perceive and respond to distinct concentrations of signals, and how such signaling pathways arose in evolution. The lab also studies the normal roles of such signals in stem-cell physiology and their abnormal roles in the formation and expansion of cancer stem cells.

Carolyn Bertozzi, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Chemistry

Research Interests:

Cell surface interactions that contribute to human health and disease with specific projects in the areas of cancer, inflammation and bacterial infection. Use techniques of organic synthesis, genetics, and biochemistry as tools to study and manipulate complex cellular processes. Much of our research involves cell surface oligosaccharides, biopolymers that contribute to cell surface recognition and cell-cell communication.

Matthew Bogyo, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Pathology

Research Interests:

Proteolytic pathways involved in cancer, inflammation and infectious disease. Use of small molecules to image protease activity, design of protease inhibitors and therapeutic applications.

Onn Brandman, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Biochemistry

Research Interests:

Stress responses, protein quality control, biophysics.

Steven M. Corsello , M.D.

Assistant Professor

Department of Medicine (Oncology)

Research Interests:

The Corsello Laboratory operates at the intersection of functional genomics and chemical biology, with the goal of advancing novel molecular mechanisms of cancer inhibition to clinical use. Our research aims to 1) leverage functional genomics to determine new anti-cancer mechanisms of small molecules, 2) develop novel targeted therapies against solid tumors, and 3) develop the next generation of phenotypic assays and analysis methods to discover drug activities.

Markus Covert, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Department of Bioengineering

Research Interests:

Building computational models of complex biological processes to guide an experimental program and accelerate discovery.

Justin Du Bois, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Department of Chemistry

Research Interests:

Voltage-gated ion channel trafficking and regulation; influence of glial cells on channel expression; molecular design, chemical synthesis, and homology modeling; electrophysiology and imaging.

Danny Hung-Chieh Chou, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Pediatrics - Endocrinology and Diabetes

Research Interests:

Protein and peptide therapeutics development. Using chemical biology tools to study insulin signaling pathways.

Michael Z. Lin, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Departments of Neurobiology and Bioengineering

Research Interests:

Protein engineering applied to sensing or controlling cell biology, including fluorescent proteins, optogenetic actuators, synthetic signaling nodes, and drug-controlled production switches.

Mark Mercola, PhD

Professor

Department of Medicine (Cardiovascular) and, by courtesy, of Chemical and Systems Biology

Jan M. Skotheim, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Biology and, by Courtesy, of Chemical and Systems Biology

Research Interests:

Cell cycle control, maternal to zygotic transition, cell size control, MAPK signaling, systems and quantitative biology.

Aaron F. Straight, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Department of Biochemistry

Research Interests:

Chromosome segregation, chromosome structure, centromeres and kinetochores, chromatin dynamics and remodeling, noncoding RNA, cell division, zygotic genome activation, microscopy.

Paul Wender, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Chemistry

Research Interests:

Chemical biology, synthesis, computer-based drug design, drug delivery, medicinal chemistry, imaging, HIV/AIDS eradication, cancer immunotherapy, Alzheimer’s disease.

Marius Wernig, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Department of Pathology

Research Interests:

Direct lineage reprogramming into neural cell types; Pluripotent stem cells; Human models of disease and gene function; Molecular mechanisms and clinical applications of reprogramming techniques.

Leon Chen, Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Leon Chen, Ph.D., is a Venture Partner with OrbiMed. Prior to joining OrbiMed, Dr. Chen was the co-founder of KAI Pharmaceuticals where he built the company as the first employee. He held responsibilities research, intellectual property and business development before Amgen acquired KAI in 2012. He was previously an Entrepreneur in Residence at Venrock and most recently was a Partner at Skyline Ventures where he served on the board of a number of biotech and diagnostic companies. Dr. Chen has a B.A. in Biochemistry from U.C. Berkeley, a Ph.D in Molecular Pharmacology from Stanford and an M.B.A from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Rami Hannoush, Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Rami Hannoush, Ph.D., joined the Early Discovery Biochemistry department at Genentech in 2006 after completing his postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard and his Ph.D. degree at McGill University. His current role includes leading interdisciplinary teams in lead discovery and research biology, with the overarching goal of developing therapeutics for the treatment of diseases with unmet medical need. He has a deep and broad interest in science and translational research, and Genentech offers him a unique opportunity to conduct ground-breaking science and at the same time translate our discoveries into the clinic.

Ryan Watts, Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Ryan Watts, Ph.D., is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Denali Therapeutics. He has led efforts to advance therapeutic candidates into clinical testing for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, ALS and rare neurodegenerative disease. Under Dr. Watts leadership, Denali has invented a proprietary blood-brain barrier platform for delivery of biotherapeutic proteins to the brain. Dr. Watts previously served as Director of the Department of Neuroscience at Genentech. During his tenure there, he led the company’s re-entry into neuroscience. The Watts laboratory focused on drug discovery for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, with an emphasis on understanding mechanisms of neurodegeneration guided by human genetics. His lab also studied various aspects of blood-brain barrier biology and delivery. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University and his B.S. in Biology from the University of Utah.

Steven Schow, Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Steven R. Schow, Ph.D. has been a SPARK advisor for the past 8 years. He served as Vice President, Research since March 2000 at Telik and as Senior Director of Medicinal Chemistry from March 1998 until March 2000. Prior to joining Telik, Dr. Schow served as a Director of Medicinal Chemistry at CV Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, from May 1995 to March 1998. He served as a Senior Group Leader at Lederle Laboratories, a division of American Cyanamid, from November 1991 until May 1995. Dr. Schow was a post-doctoral fellow in organic chemistry at the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Schow holds a Ph.D. degree in organic chemistry from the University of California at San Diego and a B.S. degree in chemistry from California State University, Los Angeles.

Stuart Kim, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus

Department of Developmental Biology

Dr. Stuart K. Kim, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Developmental Biology at Stanford University. Dr. Kim has been a Markey Scholar, a Searle Scholar and an Ellison Scholar for his research on the genetics of aging. He is an Editor of PLOS Genetics, on the National Science Advisory Council for the American Federation for Aging Research and the Scientific Advisory Board for the Buck Institute for Age Research. He has produced DNA microarrays for C. elegans and used them to profile gene expression during development and aging. Before working on functional genomics, he worked on cell polarity in epithelial cells and Ras signaling in C. elegans. Dr. Kim served as Member of Anti-aging Scientific Advisory Board at Nu Skin Enterprises Inc., since January 2010. Dr. Kim received bachelors’ degrees in chemistry and philosophy from Dartmouth College in 1979. He then moved to biology at Caltech and received a doctorate in 1984. He spent five years as a post-doctoral fellow at MIT.

Beverly Mitchell, M.D.

Professor

Department of Medicine

Research Interests:

Hematopoiesis, trafficking of nucleolar proteins, regulation of ribosomal RNA synthesis, autophagy, leukemogenesis, development of novel therapeutics for leukemias.

Richard Roth, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology

Insulin is one of the primary regulators of rapid anabolic responses in the body. Defects in the synthesis and/or ability of cells to respond to insulin results in the condition known as diabetes mellitus. To better design methods of treatment for this disorder, Richard Roth’s research was focused on how insulin elicits its various biological responses.

James Whitlock, M.D.

Professor Emeritus

Department of Molecular Pharmacology

James Whitlock’s research consisted of analyzing the mechanism by which the environmental contaminant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD, dioxin) induces gene transcription. TCDD binds to an intracellular protein (the Ah receptor) which then dimerizes with a second bHLH/PAS protein (Arnt) to form a heterodimeric, DNA binding transcription factor. The AhR/Arnt complex interacts with a dioxin-responsive transcriptional enhancer located upstream of the target CYP1A1 gene. The receptor-enhancer interaction disrupts the nucleosomal structure of the regulatory region, increasing the access of the transcription factors to the CYP1A1 promoter in vivo.