Miklos Guttman

Miklos Guttman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy. His research focuses on understanding the structural and biophysical aspects of antigen recognition by the humoral immune system and developing structural mass spectrometry techniques for structural glycobiology. He leads the Guttman Lab, which is part of the Medicinal Chemistry Faculty at the University of Washington.

Dr. Guttman received his B.S. in Chemistry with a focus in organic chemistry from the University of California, Irvine in 2003. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry/Biochemistry from the University of California, San Diego in 2009, working with Elizabeth Komives on interactions that regulate cholesterol uptake. He completed postdoctoral studies at the University of Washington, where he worked with Kelly Lee's group applying structural mass spectrometry to understand how antibodies recognize the viral surface glycoprotein of HIV.

Dr. Guttman's research program centers on antibody-antigen recognition, a critically important biological process underlying the immune response and the mechanism of action of biotherapeutics and vaccines. Due to the size and complexity of intact antibody-antigen complexes, understanding effective antibody interactions is often limited to static structures of isolated subunits. His lab uses emerging biophysical and structural tools such as structural mass spectrometry to characterize intact antibody-antigen complexes in their native solution state, advancing the development of biotherapeutic approaches against infectious diseases and cancer. Current projects include investigating antibody-mediated neutralization of staphylococcal enterotoxins and cancer recognition by immunoglobulin μ (IgM).

Another major focus of Dr. Guttman's work is glycobiology. Glycosylation plays a role in nearly all aspects of biology, with over 50% of the human proteome decorated with glycosylation. Despite its importance, knowledge of glycobiology has been hindered by the analytical challenges posed by the structural complexity of carbohydrates. His lab develops and implements novel mass spectrometry-based methods for obtaining a higher level of structural information for biologically relevant glycans and oligosaccharides.

Dr. Guttman has received the NIH Ruth L. Krischstein F32 award to support his postdoctoral work. More recently, he has worked with the Global Health Vaccine Accelerator Platform (GH-VAP) through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to characterize emerging biotherapeutics.

Dr. Guttman is actively involved in mentoring students, as indicated by his 'Taking Students: Yes' status. His research is supported by various grants, including collaborations with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. His lab has produced numerous high-impact publications in top journals, with recent work focusing on antibody-antigen interactions, protein dynamics, and structural mass spectrometry techniques.

The Guttman Lab is part of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy. The lab collaborates with various research groups across the university and with external institutions on projects related to structural biology, immunology, and glycobiology. Dr. Guttman's work has significant implications for vaccine development, therapeutic antibody design, and understanding fundamental biological processes.