Washington Research Foundation awards $7 million to UW Institute for Protein Design for ambitious initiative to advance AI-enabled enzyme design

Program will strengthen Washington state's leadership in protein science and accelerate translation of discoveries into new tools and companies across multiple applications

SEATTLE, March 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Washington Research Foundation (WRF) has awarded a $7 million grant to the University of Washington Institute for Protein Design (IPD) to accelerate the development of new catalytic enzymes and protein-based technologies with applications across medicine, technology and sustainability. The grant supports a multi-year initiative to strengthen Washington state's position at the forefront of protein science, translate discoveries into practical tools and companies, and expand a statewide innovation ecosystem.

The program will be led by David Baker, Ph.D., who received the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on computational protein design. Baker is the director of the IPD, a professor of biochemistry and an HHMI Investigator at the University of Washington. WRF awarded a $199,314 grant to the IPD last year to develop a plan for the large-scale, ambitious initiative.

The initiative is focused on strengthening the IPD's deep learning-enabled enzyme design capabilities by improving its "design-build-test-learn" pipeline, to move ideas from computational design through gene synthesis and laboratory validation. Data will be collected and fed back to improve the team's AI models, with the goal of developing predictive tools that reliably forecast protein properties for real-world use. The IPD will generate enzymes and sensors for multiple applications, including therapeutics and diagnostics, molecular electronics, renewable energy, greenhouse gas management and degradation of waste materials.

By improving the speed and reliability of this pipeline, the IPD aims to make it easier for scientists to move from a concept to a precisely functional protein with measurable performance, accelerating scientific progress and translation into products.

The program is structured to leverage and strengthen Washington state's research capabilities in protein design by expanding the IPD's collaborations to include partners not only in life sciences and clinical translation but also in areas that are new to the IPD such as waste management, renewable energy and advanced materials. These collaborations aim to connect scientific advances to practical problems and support pathways to new products, intellectual property and the formation of startup companies.

Training a new generation of innovators is a central component of the initiative. Interdisciplinary teams of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers will carry out the work, receiving mentorship in translational science and entrepreneurship from experts to foster regional entrepreneurship.

"Many global industries — including pharma, agriculture, energy, and manufacturing — depend on catalysts to drive essential chemical reactions. With AI, we can now design these molecules from scratch, tailored precisely to the task at hand. This grant from WRF will help us push this technology further and train a new generation of scientists to bring designed enzymes from the computer to the lab to the market," said Baker.

WRF's new grant will be paid over four years beginning in mid-2026. The IPD will receive additional support for the project from philanthropist Sanford Weill, the Fund for Science and Technology (FFST) and the IPD Breakthrough Fund. The University of Washington is also providing additional office and lab space in Seattle's South Lake Union to accommodate the initiative.

This grant is the fourth award from WRF's BioInnovation Grants program, launched in 2025 to increase support for large, emergent opportunities that advance Washington state's life sciences innovation ecosystem to improve lives. WRF's commitments through the program now exceed $32 million across five institutions.

Meher Antia, Ph.D., WRF's director of grant programs, said, "The IPD has been a cornerstone of Seattle's innovation ecosystem for many years, helping establish this region as a global hub for protein design research. Their groundbreaking science has led to the formation of many successful companies that translate discovery into real-world impact. WRF has been proud to support the Institute's work in the past, and we are excited to back this new chapter, which expands their capabilities beyond medicine and brings protein design solutions to pressing challenges in areas like sustainability, electronics and agriculture."

About Washington Research Foundation:

Washington Research Foundation (WRF) supports research, scholarship and entrepreneurship in Washington state, with a focus on life sciences and enabling technologies.

WRF was founded in 1981 to assist universities and other nonprofit research institutions in Washington with the commercialization and licensing of their technologies. WRF became one of the foremost technology transfer organizations in the nation, earning more than $445 million in licensing revenue for the University of Washington. To date, WRF has provided over $188 million in grants to the state's research institutions.

WRF Capital, the investment vehicle for Washington Research Foundation, has backed 132 local startups since 1996. Returns support the Foundation's grantmaking and investment programs.

For additional information, please visit wrfseattle.org.

Media contact:
Dale Wadman
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (206) 336-5600

SOURCE WASHINGTON RESEARCH FOUNDATION