Student Hosted Colloquium Kickoff: Professor Steven Banik, Stanford University
About the Seminar
"Induced Proximity As A Discovery Engine"
Changes in protein abundance are a defining hallmark of altered cell state and function. Measuring these changes not only reveals new biological mechanisms but also drives therapeutic discovery. The next era of both basic and translational science will depend on scalable technologies capable of reporting on previously hidden cellular phenomena and converting them into amplified, high-resolution readouts. Using protein degradation as a molecular switch, we program genetic circuits that relay downregulation of a protein-of-interest into user-defined outputs via ratiometric transcriptional activation. This principle enables sensitive readouts in live cells to advance discovery of small molecules, large molecules, and protein-based reagents that can reprogram cell behavior and address challenging disease targets.
About the Speaker
Prior to joining the faculty of the Stanford Chemistry Department and Sarafan ChEM-H Institute in 2021, Steven completed his undergraduate studies in chemistry at UW-Madison, a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Harvard University, and postdoctoral work at Stanford in chemical biology. His research centers on rewiring mammalian biology and chemical biotechnology development using molecular design and construction. Projects in the Banik lab combine chemical biology, organic chemistry, protein engineering, cell and molecular biology to precisely manipulate the biological machines present in mammalian cells.