Justin Siegel

Dr. Siegel is an Associate Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine, at UC Davis in the Genome Center. He received his B.S. in Biochemistry from UC Davis in 2005 and his Ph.D. in Biomolecular Structure and Design from the University of Washington in 2011, after which he returned to UC Davis to begin his research lab. His scientific focus in the design and discovery of enzymes of interest to modern society. Through strong industrial and cross-disciplinary collaborations Dr. Siegel has engineered enzymes for a wide range of applications, from treating human diseases such as Celiac Disease to the development catalysts for the productions of fuels and chemicals. In recent years Dr. Siegel has begun to explore in greater depth the application of enzymes within the food systems to promote health and sustainability. Dr. Siegel has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship. Beyond academic Science Dr. Siegel is deeply engaged with the translation of research. He is the founder of four companies (with more on the way), is the Director of Business Development for the Rosetta Commons, and is the Faculty Director of the Innovation Institute for Food and Health (IIFH) at UC Davis. As the Faculty Director of the IIFH he has led the efforts getting the institute off the ground to build a platform to accelerate the innovation cycle and facilitates deployment of products or processes that enable safe, sustainable, and secure nutrition for all.