jvandeventer

I completed a BS in chemical engineering at Stanford, an MS and PhD in chemical engineering at Caltech, and postdoctoral work at MIT. My research program at Tufts stems from my extensive training in engineering proteins and antibodies, protein-based approaches to targeting the tumor microenvironment, and genetic code manipulation with noncanonical amino acids. The lab has established a unique form of yeast displaying that integrates noncanonical amino acids in search of new classes of therapeutically relevant proteins. We are primarily focused on selectively interfering with enzymes that are dysregulated during cancer progression and in permanently inactivating disease-causing proteins.

Many of my colleagues in chemical engineering are actively engaged in projects that have the potential to lead to a sustainable future. For several years now, I have been thinking carefully about the best ways I might be able to use my expertise to contribute solutions that improve the state of the planet. The protein engineering platform of yeast display is remarkable powerful and versatile. The project proposed in this application is a logical way for my group to leverage our expertise with this platform to improve the health of the planet.

I am privileged to mentor the researchers-in-training of the Van Deventer Laboratory; they are the engine that powers the research of the group. For every student or postdoc that walks through the door of the lab, it is my goal to foster growth and maturation in all aspects of research, from design to experimentation to data interpretation to communication of findings and their significance. I am flattered by having been awarded the “Outstanding Contribution to Graduate Education” by the Tufts University Graduate Student Council in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Investing further in the training of the mentees of my lab by pursuing technologies to mitigate climate change would be a tremendous growth opportunity for the group.

October 2023