Dr. Kevan Shokat | CureTalks

Dr. Kevan Shokat is a professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at UCSF and the Department of Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley. Also an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Dr. Shokat is a pioneer in the development of chemical methods for investigating cellular signal transduction pathways with a particular focus on protein kinases and lipid kinases. He uses a combination of chemical synthesis and protein engineering to create uniquely traceable and regulatable kinases, allowing the function of over 100 different kinases to be uncovered across all disease areas including oncology, metabolism, and infectious disease. He has successfully commercialized discoveries from his laboratory. Dr. Shokat has received numerous awards including being named a fellow of several prestigious research foundations including the Pew Foundation, Searle Foundation, Sloan Foundation, Glaxo-Wellcome Foundation, and the Cotrell Foundation. He has also received the Eli Lilly Award, given to the most promising biological chemist in the country under the age of 37. He was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences (2010), the Institute of Medicine (2011), and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2011). Dr. Shokat began his independent research career at Princeton University where he was promoted from assistant to associate professor in four years. He completed his Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley in 1991, under Peter G. Schultz.