David S. Eisenberg is a distinguished molecular biophysicist renowned for his pioneering contributions to structural biology and protein science. He currently holds the Paul D. Boyer Professorship in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he has been a faculty member since 1969. A distinguished scholar, Eisenberg earned his A.B. in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University in 1961 and subsequently pursued doctoral studies at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, receiving his D.Phil in Theoretical Chemistry in 1965. His early career included influential postdoctoral work at Princeton University with Walter Kauzmann on water and hydrogen bonding, followed by further postdoctoral research at Caltech with Richard E. Dickerson on protein crystallography. Eisenberg previously served as Director of the UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics & Proteomics from 1993 to 2014 and was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator from 2001 to 2023.
Eisenberg's groundbreaking research has fundamentally advanced our understanding of protein structure and interactions, with particular emphasis on amyloid-forming proteins and their role in disease. His laboratory has pioneered methodologies in X-ray crystallography, bioinformatics, and biochemistry, establishing the Database of Interacting Proteins as a vital resource for the scientific community. Beginning in 1999, his work focused intensively on prions and proteins in the amyloid state, leading to the determination of atomic structures for numerous disease-related fibrils using microcrystallography and microelectron diffraction. This research has provided crucial insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases while also revealing potential applications in materials science. Eisenberg has published approximately 400 research papers, including seminal works on the structure and properties of water and physical chemistry principles for life sciences.
Beyond his research achievements, Eisenberg has been instrumental in cultivating the next generation of scientists through his mentorship and leadership in the biochemistry community. His laboratory has established a user-friendly facility for atomic structure determination that has served numerous researchers from UCLA and other institutions. Eisenberg's influence extends to his recognition through prestigious awards including the Stein and Moore Award from the Protein Society and memberships in the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His continued work focuses on applying advanced techniques like cryoEM to further elucidate the structural basis of amyloid diseases while exploring connections to broader biological processes including biofilm formation and corrosion. The enduring impact of Eisenberg's multidisciplinary approach continues to shape the fields of structural biology and computational molecular biology worldwide.
