Organizer/Speaker

Michelle Arkin is a chemical biologist, Professor and Chair of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, and Executive Director of the Small Molecule Discovery Center (SMDC) at UCSF. Michelle’s research focuses on developing methods and molecules that target currently ‘undruggable proteins,’ including protein-protein interactions and dynamic or intrinsically disordered proteins. She cofounded Ambagon Therapeutics to develop molecular glues targeting the chaperone 14-3-3 and Elgia Therapeutics to commercialize caspase inhibitors to treat diseases caused by chronic inflammation. Michelle is a 2024 ACS Cope Scholar and ACS/Biochemistry Gordon Hammes Lecturer. Prior to UCSF, Michelle was Associate Director of Cell Biology at Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, where she helped discover inhibitors of protein-protein interactions for IL-2/IL-2R and LFA1/ICAM (lifitegrast). She earned her PhD in Chemistry at Caltech and held a Damon Runyon postdoctoral fellowship at Genentech.

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