The Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle has received a commitment of an initial $45 million in funding through The Audacious Project, a philanthropic collaborative that surfaces and funds critical projects with the potential to create massive global change.
“This is simply wonderful, and it comes at the best possible time,” said David Baker. He is the the institute’s director, a UW School of Medicine professor of biochemistry, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. He also holds the Henrietta and Aubrey Davis Endowed Professorship in Biochemistry.
“As we get better and better at designing proteins to perform specific tasks,” said Baker, “it has become possible to have bold new approaches to solving some of the most vexing problems in medicine today.”