David Baker is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Washington School of Medicine , an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute , and adjunct faculty in genome sciences, bioengineering, chemical engineering, computer science, and physics. His pioneering work in computational biology has earned him the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and numerous other accolades. Education: Bachelor of Arts in Biology, Harvard University (1984) Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry, University of California, Berkeley (1989) Postdoctoral training in Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco (1993) David's research focuses on ab initio protein structure prediction and design via tools like Rosetta , RoseTTAFold , and the citizen science game Foldit . His group has designed Top7 , the first artificial protein with a novel fold, and advanced AI applications in structural biology. The 15 most recent articles reflect trends in computational methods for protein modeling, AI integration , and crowdsourced science . These works span ab initio prediction , density-guided optimization , and gamified approaches to structure determination. Scientific Awards: Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2024) Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2021) Wiley Prize (2022) BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2022) Overton Prize (2002) Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology (2004) David has advised PhD students like Richard Bonneau and mentored postdocs including Brian Kuhlman, Tanja Kortemme, and Jens Meiler. His Institute for Protein Design has received over $11 million from Open Philanthropy (2017) and $3 million (2021). He co-founded biotech companies such as Icosavax and Sana Biotechnology.








