Description

Founded and led by Nobel laureate David Baker, the Institute for Protein Design (IPD) at the University of Washington creates entirely new proteins to address modern challenges across medicine, technology, and sustainability. The IPD brings together over 250 members with expertise in artificial intelligence, biochemistry, genome sciences, biological structure, pharmacology, immunology, computer science, and medicine. These interdisciplinary teams develop cutting-edge software for biomolecular design, create novel functional proteins, and study these molecules in our state-of-the-art laboratories. Proteins performing countless functions in all living organisms, from digesting food to harnessing sunlight. While naturally occurring proteins emerged over millions of years to solve evolutionary challenges, the IPD designs synthetic proteins to tackle today’s unprecedented problems. Current projects include the development of vaccines and therapeutics for infectious disease; treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s, and chronic disease; self-assembling nanomachines and bioelectronic sensors; and novel materials with advanced properties. Located within the UW Department of Biochemistry, the IPD has produced field-enabling AI research tools, the world’s first computationally designed vaccine, and more than a dozen biotech companies to date. As a non-commercial entity rooted in a public university, we champion open science by sharing our most powerful software freely and responsibly with researchers worldwide.

Partners

UW Seattle, College of Arts & Sciences and Department of Chemistry, College of Engineering and Department of Electrical Engineering, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Center for Game Science, School of Medicine and Department of Genome Sciences, Department of Immunology, Department of Pathology, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Department of Biochemistry, Department of Bioengineering, Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine;

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease Seattle Children’s Research Institute Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute Seattle BioMed Benaroya Research Institute Numerous academic collaborations (30+), Department of Biochemistry, Department of Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry, Department of Electrical Engineering, Department of Genome Sciences, Department of Immunology, Department of Pathology, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Computer Science and Engineering, Center for Game Science, School of Medicine, Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine

Funders

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Department of Energy (DOE), Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF), National Institutes for Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Washington Research Foundation (WRF), Philanthropic gifts