King Lab | Lab Members
Associate Professor
neilking@uw.edu
Neil studied Biomedical Engineering as an undergraduate at Northwestern University, followed by graduate studies in Biochemistry in the lab of Todd Yeates at UCLA. During his postdoc in the group of David Baker at UW, he pioneered the development of general computational methods for the design of self-assembling proteins with atomic-level accuracy. He joined UW’s Department of Biochemistry and Institute for Protein Design as a Translational Investigator in 2014 before transitioning to Assistant Professor in July 2017. His group develops computational methods for designing functional protein nanomaterials for medical applications, focusing on structure-based vaccine design and biologics delivery. Neil also co-founded Icosavax and chaired its scientific advisory board until the company was acquired by AstraZeneca in 2024.
Maggie Ahlrichs
Grad Student
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Richmond Kwame Junior Boateng
Grad Student
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Richmond is interested in developing an effective malaria vaccine primarily by assembling malaria antigens onto denovo -based nanoparticles.
Cara Chao
Grad Student
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Priya Christensen
Volunteer
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Priya is a senior Biochemistry and Public Health undergraduate interested in improving vaccine adjuvants through protein design
Cameron Criswell
Grad Student
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Ivan del Moral Sanchez
Visitor
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Ivan is a VISIT PhD student from Sanders laboratory in Amsterdam, working on the design of HIV-1 Env vaccines.
Anne M Dosey
Staff
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Annie is developing next generation influenza vaccines.
Helen Eisenach
Grad Student
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Ariana Ghez Farrell
Roton
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Chelsea Fries
Postdoc
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Chelsea is designing protein nanotubes using multi-state protein interfaces and symmetry-breaking oligomers
Cyrus Haas
Grad Student
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Cyrus is designing novel self-assembling protein nanoparticles to use as scaffolds for vaccines against influenza and other diseases.
Bianka Haro
Grad Student
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Grace Hendricks
Grad Student
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Grace is developing an integrated technology platform that combines the benefits of mRNA and protein nanoparticle vaccines.
Daniel Humphrys
Postdoc
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Dan is applying protein design to the field of extracellular vesicle engineering by developing the Enveloped Protein Nanocage (EPN) platform
Geoff Hutchinson
Grad Student
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Yuhan Jiang
Postdoc
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Yuhan is still deciding the projects but is most interested in antigen and nanoparticles.
Zac Jones
Grad Student
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Zac is leveraging deep learning methods to enhance the stability of Rift Valley fever virus antigens for nanoparticle display.
Hyojin Kim
Postdoc
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Hyojin is developing next-generation rotavirus vaccine.
Minnie Kim
Roton
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Susan Kleinfelter
Grad Student
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Mark Langowski
Postdoc
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Susan Ling
Roton
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Meg Lunn-Halbert
Grad Student
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Meg is a BPSD graduate student in the King and Baker labs. She is working to improve vaccine efficacy using de novo protein design.
Sebastian Ols
Postdoc
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Sebastian is a postdoc interested in vaccine design and understanding the interactions of B cells with designed immunogens.
Theodore Randolph
Visitor
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Sanela Rankovic
Acting Instructor
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Computational design of protein nanomaterials with geometries optimized for targeted therapies.
Felicitas Ruiz
Postdoc
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Sam Tipps
Grad Student
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Sam is designing novel nanomaterials with built-in functional peptides to stimulate T cells.
Marti Rae Tooley
Grad Student
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Marti is interested in modulating the immune response to vaccines through protein designed nanoparticles to generate long lasting response.
Jacob Trefethen
Volunteer
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Adam Wargacki
Staff
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Adam's work regards the dynamics of higher order assembly processes, addressing how forces of attraction affect efficiency and fidelity
Dane Zambrano
Grad Student
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Lab Alumni
Postdocs
| 2022–2023 | John Wang, PhD (Senior Scientist, Regeneron) |
| 2022–2023 | Yoann Aldon, PhD (Postdoc, Sanders lab) |
| 2020–2023 | Stefanie Baker, PhD |
| 2017–2022 | Aaron Sciore, PhD |
| 2019–2021 | Alena Khmelinskaia, PhD (Assistant Professor, University of Bonn) |
| 2020–2021 | Andrew Borst, PhD (EM Core Lead, IPD Core Laboratories) |
| 2015–2021 | Karla-Luise Herpoldt, PhD (Scientist, SeaGen) |
| 2018–2020 | Thad Huber, PhD (Founder, Colorado Biofactory) |
| 2016–2019 | Carl Walkey, PhD (VP, Corporate Development at Neoleukin Therapeutics) |
Graduate Students
| 2021–2023 | Erin Yang, PhD (Scientist I, Generate Biomedicines) |
| 2018–2023 | Audrey Olshefsky, PhD (Scientist, Lila Biologics) |
| 2018–2023 | Annie Dosey, PhD (Research Scientist, King Lab) |
| 2022–2023 | Sydney Funk (Project Engineer, Seagen Launch Pad) |
| 2016–2023 | Quinton Dowling, PhD (Senior Scientist, Icosavax) |
| 2017–2023 | Dan Humphrys, PhD (Postdoc, King lab) |
| 2017–2022 | John Wang, PhD (Postdoc, King Lab) |
| 2016–2021 | Dan Ellis, PhD (Senior Scientist, Icosavax) |
Research Scientists
| 2017–2021 | Neil Gerstenmaier (Scientist, 2Seventy Bio, Seattle, WA) |
| 2017–2021 | Isaac Sappington (BPSD Graduate Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA |
| 2014–2020 | Cassie Ogohara (Research Scientist, IPD Core Laboratories) |
| 2014–2019 | Brooke Fiala (Nanoparticle Core Lead, IPD Core Laboratories) |
| 2015–2018 | Kate DaPron (Graduate Program, CU Boulder, CO) |
| 2015–2017 | Julia Burrows (MSTP program, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA) |
| 2014–2016 | Dan Ellis (Graduate Program in MCB, University of Washington, Seattle, WA) |
| 2014–2015 | Sueyeon Yi (MSTP program, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI) |
Undergraduate Researchers
| 2017–2021 | Gargi Kher (Research Scientist, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) |
| 2016–2020 | Rose Fields (Research Scientist, University of Washington) |
| 2017–2020 | Chelsea Shu (Undergraduate Research Assistant, University of Washington) |
| 2018–2020 | Margaux Randolph (Undergraduate Research Assistant, University of Washington) |
| 2019–2019 | Conlan Olson (Summer student from Harvard University) |
| 2018–2019 | Annamika Kannan (transferred to University of Michigan) |
| 2018–2018 | Ariel Stiber (Caltech SURF program) |
| 2016–2018 | Phong Ong (Masters program in Data Science, Syracuse University) |
| 2014–2018 | Hyung Chan (Brian) Kim (Medical School, Washington State University) |
| 2014–2015 | Rachel Park (Ph.D. program in Biochemistry, Stanford University) |