The Institute for Protein Design (IPD) is pleased to announce the appointment of Lynda Stuart, MD, PhD, as its new Executive Director. Dr. Stuart, an accomplished immunologist and former Deputy Director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, assumes her new role on May 1.
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Dr. Stuart is a physician, scientist, and advocate for healthcare as a human right. She brings to the IPD over 20 years of experience in immunology, global health, and product development. As Deputy Director of the Gates Foundation from 2016 to 2022, she oversaw the development and distribution of vaccines, biologics, and antibody therapies to address urgent global health challenges. Notably, Dr. Stuart led the Foundation’s COVID-19 discovery and translational vaccine response efforts, managing a large portfolio of COVID-19 and pan-coronavirus vaccine candidates. During this time, she collaborated closely with the IPD to guide the development and approval of SKYCovione, the IPD’s royalty-free vaccine for COVID-19.
With her unique background in transforming laboratory breakthroughs into real-world impact, Dr. Stuart is well-positioned to help lead the IPD in its mission to create proteins that solve modern challenges in medicine, technology, energy, and sustainability. As Executive Director, Dr. Stuart will direct translational research and corporate and foundation collaborations for the IPD.
“I believe the tools and technologies being developed at the Institute for Protein Design are amongst the most significant scientific breakthroughs of the last 50 years. When thinking about how to apply them, we are faced with both a challenge and an opportunity: we must ensure that we pursue not only things of commercial value, but things that are of great societal value, too.”
— Lynda Stuart, MD, PhD, Executive Director of the IPD
Dr. Stuart holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh and an MD from the University of Cambridge and the University of London. She has served on the Massachusetts General Hospital Executive Committee for Research and as an affiliate of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. Since leaving the Gates Foundation, Dr. Stuart was the Vice President of Infectious Disease at the mRNA company BioNTech. Dr. Stuart now holds a faculty appointment with the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Stuart to the Institute for Protein Design. Her vision for global health, proven leadership skills, and track record of forming globe-spanning collaborative networks for innovation make her the ideal partner to help guide the IPD into a new era of discovery and innovation.”
— David Baker, PhD, Founder and Scientific Director of the IPD
Concurrent with this appointment, the Institute for Protein Design has established a new Governance Board comprising interim CEO of UW Medicine Tim Dellit, MD; Chair of the UW Department of Biochemistry Trisha Davis, PhD; and David Baker, PhD, the founder and now Scientific Director of the IPD. As Executive Director, Dr. Stuart will report to the IPD Governance Board.
About the Institute for Protein Design
The Institute for Protein Design (IPD) at the University of Washington School of Medicine is a premier research organization dedicated to advancing the understanding of protein science and developing innovative protein-based solutions to tackle complex challenges in human health, materials science, and other industries. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the IPD merges computational design methods with experimental techniques to create novel proteins with tailored functions. The Institute is committed to driving breakthroughs in protein design and fostering a collaborative research environment that supports scientific discovery.