William Balch

William Balch, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Scripps Research. His research focuses on linking genetic variation in human populations to protein function using machine learning tools like Gaussian Process (GP) modeling. He pioneered concepts in proteostasis and spatial covariance, exploring how genetic and environmental factors influence protein folding and disease.

• Education: Ph.D. in Microbiology from University of Illinois (1979)

Research interests include inherited diseases (e.g., CFTR, AATD, NPC1), aging-related proteostasis collapse, and host-pathogen interactions in SARS-CoV-2. His lab develops computational platforms to model protein design and discover therapeutic interventions.

Key projects involve GP-based analysis of genetic diversity, small molecule therapeutics targeting chaperone systems, and understanding viral evolution via spatial covariance. His work bridges genomics and phenomics to address disease mechanisms at atomic resolution.

Grants and collaborations focus on protein-folding correction, with applications in precision medicine and climate change mitigation through RuBisCo optimization in plants.