Christian Cunningham
Senior Principal Scientist, Early Discovery Biochemistry, and Director, Peptide Therapeutics
"The amazing people and collaborations at Genentech motivate me to pursue innovative science aimed at discovering novel therapeutics to help patients in need."
I began my career at Genentech in 2011 as a Senior Research Associate in Early Discovery Biochemistry after completing my Ph.D. at UCSF in Biophysics and a postdoc at Stanford University. My first project was a collaboration with the Neuroscience Department aimed at understanding the molecular function and signaling of the mitochondrial deubiquitinase, Usp30, and its relationship to Parkinson’s Disease. After transitioning to the Scientist track in 2014 my group has continued its collaborative spirit by undertaking new projects aimed at mechanistically and structurally characterizing novel targets in the oncology and infectious disease areas. We also work closely with the Display Group at Genentech and are enabling the use of non-natural amino acids in peptides and small proteins to create high-affinity tools for target validation and discovery.
Featured Publication
Palmitoylation of TEAD Transcription Factors Is Required for Their Stability and Function in Hippo Pathway Signaling.
Structure (2016); 24: 179-186.
Noland CL, Gierke S, Schnier P, Murray J, Sandoval WN, Sagolla M, Dey A, Hannoush RN, Fairbrother WJ, Cunningham CN.
My lab currently uses a variety of biophysical, biochemical, and computational methodologies to characterize the mechanism of oncology, neuroscience, and infectious disease-related targets in preparation for their advancement through our drug discovery pipeline. Basic and applied research areas for my lab include ubiquitin pathway biology, transcription factor activation, and understanding the implications of post-translational modifications on protein structure and signaling.
My group also has a strong interest in understanding and engineering protein-protein interactions and conformational dynamics through the use of computational and experimental directed evolution technologies. We have a strong interest in the incorporation of non-natural amino acids into peptides and small proteins to generate high-affinity tools to pharmacologically validate novel targets and understand their function in cells.
- University of California, San Francisco, Ph.D. in Biophysics – 2009
- University of California, Berkeley, B.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology – 2002
- Genentech Key Researcher Award – 2014
- Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Fellowship – 2008
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship – 2002