James Swartz

James Swartz is the James H. Clark Professor in Stanford University's School of Engineering, holding joint appointments in Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering. He is a member of Bio-X, the Cardiovascular Institute, the Maternal & Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI), the Sarafan ChEM-H, and the Stanford Cancer Institute. His research focuses on advancing cell-free bioprocess technologies for applications in human health (targeted therapeutics, vaccines, liquid biopsies) and planetary sustainability (carbon-negative biochemicals, hydrogen production).

• Education: BS (Chemical Engineering, S. Dak. School of Mines & Technology, 1971), MS (MIT, 1975), ScD (MIT, 1978).
• Pioneered cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS), leading to spin-offs like Sutro Biopharma, Vaxcyte, and GreenLight Biosciences.

Research Interests: Integrating protein engineering with cell-free systems to address global challenges. Current projects include:

• Developing modular nanoparticles for rapid vaccine production
• Engineering photosynthetic hydrogen production
• Carbon-negative biochemical manufacturing

Notable Articles (2018-2012): Focus on vaccine adjuvants, hydrogenase mechanisms, and CFPS optimization. Recent work emphasizes modular nanoparticle vaccines and scalable bioprocessing.

Honors: Member of National Academy of Engineering, 2007 James Bailey Award, 2012 DIC Wang Award, and 2020 Marvin Johnson Award.

Advisees: Jenna Ahn, Grace Callander, Brenda Wang (PhD); Anja Redecker (Postdoc). Active in teaching Advanced Biochemical Engineering and Protein Biotechnology courses.