Melissa Starovasnik

Vice President, Protein Sciences

POSTDOC MENTOR

"Genentech provides a highly stimulating working environment where one regularly interacts with bright and talented individuals, who inspire creativity and success and are all motivated by a strong shared desire to discover and develop important medicines that will make a difference in patients' lives."

• 20
  years at Genentech
• 8
  publications (2010-12)
• 4
  awards & honors

I came to Genentech first as a postdoctoral fellow in the protein NMR group in 1993, and was hired as a scientist in Protein Engineering in 1995. I was drawn to pursue research here because of the exciting and high-quality science taking place; our highly collaborative, multidisciplinary approach; and the opportunity to work with exceptionally talented colleagues. Throughout my time here, I have been involved in many exciting projects, all sharing the common theme of exploring protein/peptide structure and function, with an emphasis on the study of molecular recognition and application to drug development.

My role has broadened significantly in recent years, where I now have both scientific and operational responsibilities within our research organization. On the science side, I lead the Structural Biology department encompassing high-throughput protein expression, NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray crystallography, with the aim to provide a detailed structural understanding of the molecular nature of our drug targets and candidates. While on the operations side, I oversee all operational activities for our 1300-member research organization, and serve on the research leadership team.

• My Focus

  Research in the Structural Biology department involves three-dimensional structural analyses of proteins and peptides of therapeutic interest. This analysis is used to develop a better understanding of how the molecules function in biology and determine how best to intervene therapeutically to influence human disease.

  Our research supports drug discovery for multiple therapeutic areas, but I have a particular interest in the study of molecular interactions impacting B-cell biology.

• Publications

  • The Crystal Structure of the Catalytic Domain of the NF-κB Inducing Kinase Reveals a Narrow but Flexible Active Site

    Structure, 2012, ISSN: 0969-2126

    de Leon-Boenig, Gladys; Bowman, Krista K; Feng, Jianwen A; Crawford, Terry; Everett, Christine; Franke, Yvonne; Oh, Angela; Stanley, Mark; Staben, Steven T; Starovasnik, Melissa A; Wallweber, Heidi J A; Wu, Jiansheng; Wu, Lawren C; Johnson, Adam R; Hymowitz, Sarah G

     View on PubMed

  • Molecular basis of Tank-binding kinase 1 activation by transautophosphorylation

    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012, ISSN: 0027-8424

    Ma, Xiaolei; Helgason, Elizabeth; Phung, Qui T.; Quan, Clifford L.; Iyer, Rekha S.; Lee, Michelle W.; Bowman, Krista K.; Starovasnik, Melissa A.; Dueber, Erin C.

     View on PubMed

  • Structural Basis for the Dual Recognition of Helical Cytokines IL-34 and CSF-1 by CSF-1R

    Structure, 2012, ISSN: 0969-2126

    Ma, Xiaolei; Lin, Wei Yu; Chen, Yongmei; Stawicki, Scott; Mukhyala, Kiran; Wu, Yan; Martin, Flavius; Bazan, J. Fernando; Starovasnik, Melissa A;

     View on PubMed

  • Small-Molecule Ligands Bind to a Distinct Pocket in Ras and Inhibit SOS-Mediated Nucleotide Exchange Activity

    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012, ISSN: 0027-8424

    Fang, Guowei; Wang, Weiru; Rudolph, Joachim; Jackson, Peter K.; Mellman, Ira; Starovasnik, Melissa A.; Giannetti, Anthony M.; Wu, Jiansheng; Bowman, Krista K.; Ludlam, Mary J. C.; Stokoe, David; Malek, Shiva; Pan, Borlan; Fauber, Benjamin P.; Skelton, Nicholas J.; Anderson, Daniel J.; Pitts, Keith; Oh, Angela; Garrenton, Lindsay S.; Maurer, Till

     View on PubMed

  • Phosphorylation-dependent activity of the deubiquitinase DUBA

    Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 2012, ISSN: 1545-9985

    Huang, Oscar W; Ma, Xiaolei; Yin, Jianping; Flinders, Jeremy; Maurer, Till; Kayagaki, Nobuhiko; Phung, Qui; Bosanac, Ivan; Arnott, David; Dixit, Vishva M; Hymowitz, Sarah G; Starovasnik, Melissa A; Cochran, Andrea G

     View on PubMed

  • A new regulatory switch in a JAK protein kinase.

    Proteins, 2010, ISSN: 1097-0134

    Tsui, V.; Gibbons, P.; Ultsch, M.; Mortara, K.; Chang, C.; Blair, W.; Pulk, R.; Stanley, M.; Starovasnik, M.; Williams, D.; Lamers, M.; Leonard, P.; Magnuson, S.; Liang, J.; Eigenbrot, C.

  • Multiple Novel Classes of APRIL-specific Receptor-blocking Peptides Isolated by Phage Display.

    Journal of Molecular Biology, 2010, ISSN: 1089-8638

    Gordon, N.C.; Lien, S.; Johnson, J.; Wallweber, H.J.; Tran, T.; Currell, B.; Mathieu, M.; Quan, C.; Starovasnik, M.A.; Hymowitz, S.G.; Kelley, R.F.

  • Engineering human IgG1 affinity to human neonatal Fc receptor: Impact of affinity improvement on pharmacokinetics in primates.

    Journal of Immunology, 2009, ISSN: 1550-6606

    Yeung, Y.A.; Leabman, M.K.; Marvin, J.S.; Qiu, J.; Adams, C.W.; Lien, S.; Starovasnik, M.A.; Lowman, H.B.

• Education
  • University of Washington, Department of Biochemistry, Ph.D. – 1992
  • University of Washington, Department of Chemistry, B.S. – 1987
• Awards & Honors
  • National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship – 1990
  • Iota Sigma Pi Scholarship, Outstanding Female Chemistry Graduate, University of Washington – 1987
  • Zahlia Jenks Rowe Academic Scholarship in Chemistry, University of Washington – 1987
  • Merck Index Award, Outstanding Senior Chemist, University of Washington – 1987