Event Overview

The Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the Center for Protein Design at the University of Copenhagen present the "De novo Design of Modulators and Effectors of PPIs Symposium", organized by Tanja Kortemme, Nevan Krogan, and Derek Woolfson on November 17–18, 2026.

Bringing together leaders in protein design, structural biology, chemical biology, and drug discovery, the symposium will explore a central question: Can we move beyond designing individual protein binders to engineering functional interaction networks that control biological processes at scale? Through presentations and discussion, participants will examine opportunities to shift the field from static, one-to-one interactions toward dynamic, context-dependent, and scalable systems of interaction design.

The symposium will also serve as a starting point for collective action, bringing participants together to develop a shared framework for the field. The goal is to produce a high-level position paper outlining key scientific challenges and opportunities, a roadmap for targeting protein-protein interactions by design, and opportunities for collaborative, large-scale initiatives. This effort aims to engage the broader research community and help shape future funding opportunities and cross-institutional programs.