Keriann Marie Backus

Keriann Marie Backus is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine. Her research program focuses on developing and applying chemoproteomic approaches to understand protein function, particularly through cysteine profiling and covalent ligand discovery. Dr. Backus leads an active research laboratory that bridges chemical biology, proteomics, and systems biology to address fundamental questions in protein biochemistry and disease mechanisms.

Dr. Backus's research interests center on chemoproteomics, with particular emphasis on cysteine reactivity profiling, protein interactome mapping, and covalent ligand discovery. Her laboratory develops innovative chemical and proteomic methodologies to characterize the cysteinome—the complete set of reactive cysteines in the proteome—and to understand how cysteine modifications impact protein function in health and disease. Her work spans fundamental protein biochemistry, chemical probe development, and translational applications in areas including inflammation, cancer, and infectious disease. The lab employs cutting-edge mass spectrometry, chemical biology, and bioinformatics approaches to map protein modifications, interactions, and functions at systems-level resolution.

Her publication record demonstrates significant contributions to chemoproteomics methodology development and biological applications. Recent work has focused on creating scalable sample preparation techniques (CySP3-96), organelle-specific cysteine capture methods, cholesterol interactome mapping, and cysteine databases (CysDB). Her research bridges basic chemical biology with translational applications, including tuberculosis imaging and understanding vascular inflammation mechanisms.

Dr. Backus has received significant research funding, including an NIH DP2 New Innovator Award (GM146246) for 'A systems-level approach to decipher the protein interactome' and an NIH F32 postdoctoral fellowship (GM108208) for 'Fragment-Based Ligand Discovery in Proteomes.' These awards reflect recognition of her innovative approaches to chemical proteomics and protein interaction mapping.

Dr. Backus actively mentors graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in her laboratory, with numerous trainees appearing as first or co-first authors on high-impact publications. Her research program maintains strong collaborations across UCLA and with other institutions, particularly with researchers in the Cravatt laboratory (where she completed her postdoctoral training) and with clinical researchers applying chemoproteomic approaches to disease mechanisms.

The Backus laboratory functions as an interdisciplinary research hub at the intersection of chemical biology and proteomics. It combines expertise in organic synthesis, mass spectrometry, computational biology, and cell biology to develop and apply chemoproteomic technologies. The lab maintains strong connections with the broader UCLA research community, particularly through the Graduate Program in Bioscience and collaborations with clinical departments studying inflammation, cancer, and infectious diseases.