After completing dual B.S. degrees in chemistry and recombinant gene technology from SUNY Fredonia, Dr. Gestwicki performed his Ph.D. thesis work at the University of Wisconsin with Professor Laura Kiessling on the mechanisms of multivalent receptor-ligand interactions. Using innovative chemical tools, Gestwicki and Kiessling uncovered a key role for dynamic receptor-receptor interactions during bacterial sensing. This work sparked Dr. Gestwicki's interest in using the methodologies of synthetic chemistry to address fundamental problems in biology - especially those that have proven difficult to answer using other strategies.
Dr. Gestwicki continued work in the area of Chemical Biology in the laboratory of HHMI investigator Gerald Crabtree at Stanford University. There, he teamed with Crabtree and Isabella Graef to develop a new method for inhibiting protein-protein interaction. The primary innovation in this method is that the cell's own proteins are recruited by the organic molecule to assist in the process. Thus, the "inhibitory complex" is a combination of a drug-like chemical and an endogenous protein.
In 2005, Dr. Gestwicki joined the faculty of the University of Michigan. His laboratory continues to study new ways of using synthetic molecules. The group's biological interest are focused on understanding how the body normally protects intself from neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, so that they can develop ways of boosting these favorable pathways.
