Welcome to the Gelb Research Group
Research Interests, History, and Awards
The Gelb group combines chemical and molecular and cellular biochemistry techniques to study enzymatic process of medical importance.
Michael H. Gelb studied chemistry and biochemistry as an undergraduate at the University of California at Davis. His Ph.D. studies with Stephen G. Sligar at Yale University led to a better understanding of the catalytic mechanism of cytochrome P450. As an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of the late Robert H. Abeles at Brandeis University, Gelb studied a variety of mechanism-based inactivators of serine proteases and developed fluorinated ketones as tight-binding inhibitors of several classes of proteases. In 1985 Gelb became a faculty member in the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Washington. Major breakthroughs in the group include the development of methods to properly analyze the action of enzymes on membrane surfaces, the discovery of protein prenylation (farnesylation and geranylgeranylation) in mammalian cells (together with John A. Glomset), and the development of Isotope-Coded Affinity Tags (ICAT reagents) for proteomic applications (together with Ruedi Aebersold). His current research is in the following areas at the interface of chemistry and biology:
He is the Harry and Catherine Jaynne Boand Endowed Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Department of Biochemistry at the University of Washington and is a member of graduate training programs in Biomolecular Structure and Design and in Molecular and Cellular Biology.
Gelb's awards and honors include:
Gustavus John Esselen Award, Harvard University (2013)
Fellow of the Washington Academy of Sciences (2012-)
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2009-)
Kaplan Lecturer, Brandeis University (2009)
Plenary Lecturer, BrazMedChem2008, Porto de Galinha, Brazil (2008)
Plenary Lecturer, Keystone Conference on Drugs for Protozoan Paraistes, (2006)
University Keck Lecturer, University of Toronto (2002)
Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry, given by the Division of Biological Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (1993)
ICI Pharmaceuticals Award for Excellence in Chemistry (now given by AstraZeneca) (1993)
Alfred P. Sloan Fellow (1990-92)
Merck New Faculty Development Award (1986-90)
American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow (1983-85)
2002-2006 NIH Physical Biochemistry Study Section Member
2001-2006 Editorial Advisory Board: Journal of Biological Chemistry
2000 Chair, American Chemical Society Div. of Biological Chemistry Nominating Committee
2000 NIH Bioorganic and Natural Products Study Section Member
1996-2000 NIH Biochemistry Study Section Member
1989 NIH Pharmacology Study Section Member
1998- Editorial Board: Current Opinion in Chemical Biology
1997 Co-Chair, Gordon Research Conference, Co-Enzymes and Metabolic Pathways
1997 NIH Physical Biochemistry Study Section Member
Current Scientific Advisory Boards: Genzyme Corp., LinkMedicine Corp.
Please feel free to contact Professor Gelb if you have any questions about the program or if you want to discuss research areas in more detail.
Last updated 10/12/00