AI-guided molecular design
Generative models, structure prediction, and experimentally grounded learning for antibodies, nanobodies, miniproteins, and other recognition modules.
Strauch Lab · Washington University in St. Louis
We design proteins to outthink disease.
We combine artificial intelligence, structural biology, and high-throughput experimentation to engineer vaccines, therapeutics, and programmable biomolecular systems.
Our mission
From molecular insight to designed function.
Biology provides powerful molecular machines, but evolution did not optimize them for every challenge in human health. Our lab develops computational and experimental methods to understand how proteins work—and to redesign them with new structures, interactions, and functions.
Research platform
Computation and experiment in one continuous cycle.
Our work spans foundational method development and translational applications. Every program connects predictive modeling to experimental measurement.
Vaccine antigen engineering
Structure-guided immunogens that stabilize vulnerable viral proteins, reshape immunodominance, and expand protection across viral diversity.
Programmable protein assemblies
De novo scaffolds, symmetric complexes, and nanoparticles that organize viral antigens or create new delivery and biomaterials functions.
High-throughput design–test–learn
Yeast display, pooled libraries, pseudovirus systems, affinity and stability selection, and NGS readouts that turn experiments into better models.
Featured programs
Building the next generation of protein technologies.
Selected programs illustrate how the lab connects algorithm development, molecular engineering, and translational biology.
ASCENT
An experimentally grounded platform for designing antibodies, nanobodies, and miniproteins through closed-loop learning.
Project overview →Immune-focusing antigens
Modular hemagglutinin design to understand and redirect antibody responses toward conserved protective surfaces.
Learn more →Fusion protein stabilization
General computational strategies for preserving vulnerable prefusion conformations as vaccine and structural biology reagents.
Related publications →Protein scaffolds & particles
Precisely shaped assemblies that control antigen geometry and create new platforms for delivery and biomolecular materials.
Learn more →How we work
A closed loop from idea to biological function.
We use experimental outcomes—including failures—to improve design decisions and generate reusable scientific knowledge.
01
Define
Identify a biological mechanism, structural constraint, or translational need.
02
Design
Generate structures and sequences using physics-based and AI methods.
03
Build
Synthesize focused designs or diverse pooled libraries.
04
Test
Measure expression, stability, binding, structure, immunity, and function.
05
Learn
Integrate results into the next design cycle and open computational resources.
Work with us
Curious minds. Difficult problems. Measurable impact.
We welcome researchers who want to work across computational design, structural biology, virology, immunology, and high-throughput experimentation.
Based at WashU Medicine
Washington University in St. Louis
Division of Infectious Diseases, with affiliations across Molecular Microbiology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics.