Claudio Ciferri

Claudio Ciferri is a Distinguished Scientist and Executive Director in the Structural Biology Department at Genentech, specializing in cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) to investigate protein structures critical for drug discovery and vaccine development. He leads a world-class Cryo-EM group established at Genentech, one of the first in industry, equipped with cutting-edge technology like Titan Krios microscopes and advanced data processing systems.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Structural Biology from the European Institute of Oncology (2006)
• B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from the University of Bari (2000)
• Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley (2007–2011), focusing on Cryo-EM and X-ray crystallography

Research Interests: Claudio's work centers on structural biology of pharmacologically relevant complexes. Key areas include membrane protein structures, receptor-ligand interactions, and antibody-antigen complexes in disease contexts such as viral infections and neurological disorders. His group leverages Cryo-EM to study previously intractable complexes, advancing drug design and vaccine strategies.

Publications reflect a focus on structural insights into viral entry mechanisms, therapeutic antibody development, and ion channel structures, contributing to drug discovery pipelines at Genentech.

Awards include the Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Innovation Award (2013) and the American Italian Cancer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (2008).

As a Postdoctoral Mentor, he fosters early-career scientists in state-of-the-art Cryo-EM methodologies. His lab collaborates across departments to integrate structural data with drug development, emphasizing translational research.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Structural Biology Department at Genentech, collaborating with drug discovery and vaccine development teams to advance therapies targeting challenging protein targets.