B.S. Nanjing University, China 1984; Ph.D. Purdue University, West Lafayette 1994; Post-Doctoral The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla 1996

The unifying theme of our research is to use the tools of chemistry to delineate the structure and function relationships for and to elucidate mechanisms of action of proteins. Currently, we are focused on: (1) chemical protein engineering via native chemical ligation; (2) viral proteins in HIV-1 assembly and maturation; (3) targeting tumorigenic proteins for cancer therapy; (4) structure and function relationships for proteins in innate host defense. Our long-term research interests lie in the development of peptide/protein therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases.