David Baker (biochemist)

For other people named David Baker, see David Baker (disambiguation).
David Baker
David Baker at the summit of Spark Plug Mountain, Washington, July 31, 2013
Baker in 2013
Born (1962-10-06) October 6, 1962 (age 62)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Alma mater
Known for
SpouseHannele Ruohola-Baker
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsComputational biology
Institutions
ThesisReconstitution of intercompartmental protein transport in yeast extracts (1989)
Doctoral advisorRandy Schekman
Other academic advisorsDavid Agard
Doctoral studentsRichard Bonneau
Other notable studentsBrian Kuhlman, Tanja Kortemme
Websitewww.bakerlab.org

David Baker (born October 6, 1962) is an American biochemist and computational biologist who has pioneered methods to design proteins and predict their three-dimensional structures. He is the Henrietta and Aubrey Davis Endowed Professor in Biochemistry, an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and an adjunct professor of genome sciences, bioengineering, chemical engineering, computer science, and physics at the University of Washington. He was awarded half of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on computational protein design.[3][4]

Artificial intelligence programs developed by Baker and others have now largely solved the problem of protein structure prediction.[5][6] Baker is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences and the director of the University of Washington's Institute for Protein Design.[7] He has co-founded more than a dozen biotechnology companies and was included in Time magazine's inaugural list of the 100 Most Influential People in health in 2024.[8]

  1. ^ "David Baker". Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  2. ^ "Institute for Protein Design wins $45M in funding from TED's Audacious Project". April 17, 2019. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  3. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024". Nobel Media AB. Archived from the original on October 9, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  4. ^ "Press release: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024". NobelPrize.org. Archived from the original on October 9, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  5. ^ "Protein structures for all". Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science. December 16, 2021. Archived from the original on December 16, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  6. ^ "How AI Revolutionized Protein Science, but Didn't End It". Quanta Magazine. Simons Foundation. June 26, 2024. Archived from the original on October 9, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  7. ^ "UW to Establish Institute for Protein Design". University of Washington. April 13, 2012. Archived from the original on January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  8. ^ Henshall, Will (May 2, 2024). "David Baker". Time. Archived from the original on October 9, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.