[Audio Descriptions] Faculty In Focus: Jeff Nivala

Why It Matters

End-to-end single-protein sequencing could fundamentally improve biological understanding and enable earlier diagnostics and more precise therapeutics, potentially accelerating biomedical research and drug development. Broad adoption by biologists and clinicians would reshape how diseases are detected and treated.

Summary

Jeff Nivala, an assistant professor at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, leads the Molecular Information Systems Lab developing technologies to read individual, full-length protein molecules end-to-end. His interdisciplinary team—combining molecular biology, biochemistry, microbiology, machine learning, software and hardware—has established proof-of-principle experiments and operates a wet lab within the computer science building. Current protein analysis fragments molecules and loses contextual information; Nivala’s approach aims to preserve natural protein states to reveal function at the molecular level. The lab plans to translate the technology to outside users over the next 5–10 years for research and clinical applications.

Original Description

In this episode of the Allen School’s “Faculty in Focus” series, Assistant Professor Jeff Nivala of the Molecular Information Systems Laboratory talks about his work on technologies for reading and analyzing full-length protein molecules to reveal how each functions at the molecular level. Nivala’s research aims to advance our understanding of fundamental biology and support the development of new diagnostics and therapeutics for when biology goes wrong.

For a version without audio descriptions, visit https://youtu.be/43zH8CLsvs8.