David S. Eisenberg

David S Eisenberg

Professor, Biological Chemistry, University of California Los Angeles

(310) 825-3754

Howard Hughes Medical Institute
University of California, Los Angeles
611 C.E. Young Drive East
Los Angeles, CA 90095

Fax Number:
(310) 206-3914

Affiliations

Distinguished Professor, Biological Chemistry
Lab Director, Eisenberg Lab
Paul D. Boyer Professor of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, Molecular Biology Institute
Member, Biochemistry, Biophysics & Structural Biology GPB Home Area, Bioinformatics GPB Home Area, CTSI, California NanoSystems Institute, JCCC Signal Transduction and Therapeutics Program Area, Molecular Biology Institute, Molecular Pharmacology GPB Home Area
Researcher, Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology, Proteomics and Bioinformatics
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Research Interests

We are striving to understand and defeat amyloid diseases, which include Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Lou Gehrig’s, and diabetes type 2. We identify the molecular agents, learn their structures, and design biochemical and chemical interventions. A second project involves new methods for CO2 capture, a major environmental problem. We also study protein interactions, including those in proteins from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Structures are related to function by biochemical, computational and genetic methods. Excellent facilities for structure determination and computation are shared with other members of the UCLA-DOE Institute of Genomics and Proteomics.

Biography

David Eisenberg is currently Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry, as well as HHMI Investigator and Director of the UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics. Before he came to UCLA, Eisenberg earned an A.B. in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard College and a D.Phil. from Oxford University in Theoretical Chemistry on a Rhodes Scholarship. After postdoctoral study at Princeton University on water and hydrogen bonding and at Caltech on protein crystallography, he joined the faculty at UCLA. Currently he studies protein interactions by X-ray crystallography, bioinformatics, and biochemistry, with an emphasis on amyloid-forming proteins. This recently recognized protein state offers opportunities to understand cells in health and disease, and in synthesizing new materials and in understanding processes as diverse as biofilms and corrosion. Eisenberg has published over 300 papers and reviews, holds half a dozen patents. His awards include: the UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award, John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, the UCLA Faculty Research Lectureship, the Stein and Moore Award of the Protein Society, the ACS Faculty Mentoring Award, and membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the Institute of Medicine.

Selected Scientific Public Service
  • 2009-2015 SAB St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
  • 2008-2009 Pfizer’s Biotherapeutics and Bioinnovation Scientific Advisory Panel
  • 2007-2017 SAB UCSF HARC Center
  • 2006-2009 SAB, BioDesign Institute, Arizona State University
  • 2005-2012 SAB, Harvard University Bauer Center
  • 2001-2012 Advisory Committee, Caltech Beckman Center
  • 2004 Review Panel: Centre for Protein Engineering, LMB, Cambridge, UK
  • 2001-2004 National Academy of Sciences: Organizing Chair, Biophysics Section
  • 1999-2005 European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBL) Scientific Advisory Committee
  • 1998-2001 National Research Council, Commission on Life Sciences
  • 1996-2000 Hereditary Disease Foundation, Scientific Advisory Board
  • 1995-1998 National Research Council, Board of Biology
  • 1995-1999 Chair, Protein Data Bank Advisory Board
  • 1989-present Editorial Advisory Board, Current Opinion in Biology
  • 1988-2009 Editor, Advances in Protein Chemistry
  • 1987-1989 First President, Protein Society

Publications