Neil King

Neil studied Biomedical Engineering as an undergraduate at Northwestern University, followed by graduate studies in Biochemistry in the lab of Todd Yeates at UCLA. During his postdoc in the group of David Baker at UW, he pioneered the development of general computational methods for the design of self-assembling proteins with atomic-level accuracy. He joined UW’s Department of Biochemistry and Institute for Protein Design as a Translational Investigator in 2014 before transitioning to Assistant Professor in July 2017. His group uses and extends computational methods to design functional protein nanomaterials for applications in structure-based vaccine design and targeted delivery of biologics.

Proteins are Nature’s building block of choice for the construction of ‘molecular machines’: stable yet dynamic assemblies with unparalleled abilities in molecular recognition, catalysis, and responsiveness to changes in environment. Neil’s group is incorporating these features into the design of functional nanomaterials with the goal of creating new opportunities for the treatment of disease. Working with collaborators around the world, they are establishing a design-build-test cycle to use feedback from functional assays in vitro and in vivo to optimize the performance of the designed materials.

Neil King was a co-founder of Icosavax, a Seattle-based vaccine design company born from innovative research conducted at the Institute for Protein Design. It was acquired by AstraZeneca in December 2023 in a deal worth up to $1.1 billion.

Functional protein nanomaterials, structure-based vaccine design, targeted delivery of biologics