Rohit Pappu

Rohit Pappu is the Gene K. Beare Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, affiliated with the McKelvey School of Engineering. He directs the Center for Biomolecular Condensates and co-directs the Center for High Performance Computing. His expertise spans intrinsically disordered proteins, neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., ALS and Huntington’s), and biomaterials design.

Education: PhD in Biological Physics (Tufts University, 1996), MS from Tufts (1993), BSc from Bangalore University (1990). Postdoctoral training at Washington University and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Research focuses on phase transitions of disordered proteins, mechanisms of neurodegeneration, and biomaterials for biotechnological applications. Recent work includes studies on stress granules’ role in ALS and condensate dynamics using computational biophysics and machine learning.

• Awards: Mercator Fellow (German Research Foundation), AAAS Fellow, Biophysical Society Fellow.

Advising/grants: Active in interdisciplinary collaborations, including projects with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Duke University. Current efforts explore condensate impairment in cancer and neurodegeneration.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Center for Biomolecular Condensates, part of the Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences and Hope Center for Neurological Disorders.