Dehua Pei

Dehua Pei is a Professor at The Ohio State University, based in the Biological Sciences Building. He holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Wuhan University (1986) and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from UC Berkeley (1991), where he worked under Peter G. Schultz. After postdoctoral training with Christopher T. Walsh at Harvard Medical School, he joined OSU in 1995. His research focuses on membrane translocation mechanisms, macrocyclic peptide drug design, and intracellular biologics development. Notable honors include AAAS Fellow (2010), ACS Columbus Section Award (2018), and OSU Innovator of the Year (2017).

Research interests span Biochemistry, Chemical Biology, and Drug Discovery, with emphasis on undruggable protein targets and cell-penetrating peptide technologies. His lab explores vesicle budding and collapse mechanisms for membrane translocation, and develops macrocyclic peptides to inhibit protein-protein interactions (e.g., PPIs in cancer, inflammation). Recent work includes intracellular delivery systems integrating cell-penetrating peptides with nucleic acids and proteins.

Advising highlights include guiding over 10 PhD graduates, many now in industry roles at Entrada Therapeutics, Eli Lilly, and biotech firms. Key publications focus on cyclic cell-penetrating peptides, pan-Ras inhibitors, and endosomal escape mechanisms. Current projects target intracellular biologics for undruggable targets and viral entry mechanisms.