Steven Rutherford
Senior Principal Scientist and Director, Infectious Diseases
"Every day we aim to address difficult but critical research questions and I am constantly inspired by the innovative, rigorous, and collaborative scientific approaches employed by Genentech scientists to seek out answers."
Featured Publication
Monoclonal antibody targeting the β-barrel assembly machine of Escherichia coli is bactericidal.
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 115:3692-3697.
Storek KM, Auerbach MR, Shi H, Garcia NK, Sun D, Nickerson NN, Vij R, Chiang N, Schneider K, Wecksler AT, Skippington E, Nakamura G, Seshasayee D, Koerber JT, Payandeh J, Smith PA, Rutherford ST.
Infections by bacteria resistant to all available antibiotics are on the rise and new treatment options are needed. This is especially true for Gram-negative bacterial pathogens for which the last new class of antibiotics was introduced to the clinic over 50 years ago. My group aims to discover and validate new potential antibiotic targets in Gram-negative bacteria and test novel inhibitory modalities.
We have focused on the outer membrane, a defining feature of Gram-negative bacteria that serves as a permeability barrier to prevent penetrance of antibiotics and other toxic molecules. Working closely with colleagues in Structural Biology, Antibody Engineering, Biochemical and Cellular Pharmacology, Chemistry, Translational Immunology, and Early Discovery Biochemistry, we have explored multiple essential pathways involved in constructing and mainlining the outer membrane and used antibodies and other molecules to dissect and target these processes.
- Princeton University, Postdoctoral Fellow – 2008-2013
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ph.D. in Microbiology – 2008
- Miami University, B.A. in Microbiology – 2002
- Genentech Scientific Mentorship Award Finalist – 2019
- Genentech Research Innovation Fund Award – 2016, 2019
- NIH Kirschstein National Research Service Award – 2010
- Thomsen Distinguished Graduate Fellowship – 2007
- Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Fellowship – 2004