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The Stoesser Lecture in Chemistry is held every year in honor of Dr. Sylvia Stoesser, an early pioneer for women in chemistry and features an individual that is making outstanding contributions to science outside of academia. The Stoesser Lecture Planning Committee has selected Dr. Beyza Bulutoglu, Principal Scientist at Genentech, as the speaker for the 2024 Stoesser Lecture in Chemistry. Her talk is entitled "Turning the Wheel of Protein Engineering for Biotechnology Applications". Light refreshments will be provided.
Abstract
The protein engineering toolbox plays a key role in biotechnology, enabling the realization of engineered molecules as well as de novo designs to be employed in different applications. It is an iterative process, starting with making changes at the DNA level and then investigating the outcome at the protein level via structural and functional analyses, and further manipulating the protein of interest until the final molecule with the desired properties is obtained. We can leverage protein engineering principles to first understand how the protein of interest works, and then to modify it to be employed in the desired application.
In this seminar, I will talk about my career path, including what has drawn me to the field of protein engineering, with exemplary work from my PhD and postdoc labs, as well as my current research group at Genentech. The examples will focus on application-oriented protein engineering research involving different protein-based modalities, including 1) engineering of stimulus-responsive domains for bioseparations/biomaterials; 2) use of elastin-like peptides for tissue engineering; 3) stabilization of cytokines for cancer immunotherapy; and 4) engineering of viral capsid proteins for gene therapy.
Beyza Bulutoglu, Ph.D., pursued her master’s studies in Biomedical Engineering at Yale University followed by Ph.D. studies in Chemical Engineering at Columbia University. Following her postdoctoral appointment at the Center for Engineering in Medicine & Surgery, in affiliation with Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, she joined the Protein Chemistry Department within the Drug Discovery Organization at Genentech as a Principal Scientist.
Her graduate work focused on application-oriented protein engineering, where she engineered various domains, including enzymes and stimulus-responsive peptides, to serve as building blocks in biotechnology applications. She was awarded the NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein Fellowship during her postdoc and conducted studies in the areas of synthetic biology, protein engineering, and tissue engineering. At Genentech, she leads a protein engineering group focusing on the design and application of different modalities to discover and develop new therapies for patients.
Dr. Bulutoglu Selected Publications:
Activation of the Interleukin-18 Signaling Pathway via Direct Receptor Dimerization in the Absence of Interleukin-18
Combinatorial Use of Therapeutic ELP-Based Micelle Particles in Tissue Engineering
Engineering interferons and interleukins for cancer immunotherapy
This lecture is made possible by support from the Dr. Yulan C. Tong Stoesser Lecture Endowment Fund.
