Pappu named Gene K. Beare Distinguished Professor
Internationally renowned researcher directs the Center for Biomolecular Condensates
Rohit V. Pappu, an internationally renowned researcher in biomolecular condensates and intrinsically disordered proteins, will be installed as the Gene K. Beare Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis Oct. 9, 2023.
Pappu is professor of biomedical engineering and director of the Center for Biomolecular Condensates in McKelvey School of Engineering and a member of the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders and of the Roy and Diana Vagelos Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences’ Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology (BBSB) Program, both at the School of Medicine. From 2015-2021, Pappu held the Edwin H. Murty Professorship in the engineering school.
Pappu’s research focuses on the form, functions and phase transitions of intrinsically disordered proteins and multivalent macromolecules. His work, which is driven by a combination of polymer physics theories, computational biophysics, machine learning and biochemical experiments in vitro and in living cells, is aimed at understanding how molecular matter is organized in space and time within cells. These foundational studies have a direct impact on the mechanisms that underlie the onset of neurodegeneration and the processes that enable cell proliferation in cancer. Specifically, he focuses on neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). His work is enabling the design and discovery of novel, responsive protein- and peptide-based biomaterials, and the design of orthogonal condensates for synthetic biology applications.
"Rohit is a pioneer in biomolecular condensates, and his work is recognized as groundbreaking worldwide,” said Aaron Bobick, dean and the James M. McKelvey Professor in the McKelvey School of Engineering. “I am so proud that McKelvey Engineering is the home to the center he has launched and the work that he inspires. We all look forward to the continued discoveries that Rohit and his collaborators will make that build on the work he has done here for the past two decades.”
Pappu is a Mercator fellow of the German Research Foundation, a fellow of the Biophysical Society, a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineers, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has been named among the most highly cited researchers in the sciences worldwide several times by the Institute for Scientific Information and is a member of the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society. In 2019, he received the McKelvey Engineering Faculty Award for excellence in teaching, and in 2017, he received the Dean’s Award for outstanding contributions in service of the mission of the Engineering school. Pappu has served as a member of the Board of Reviewing Editors for eLife and Biophysical Journal. He has published nearly 150 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has more than $1 million in ongoing funded research. Entrepreneurially, Pappu serves as a member of the scientific advisory board of Boston -based Dewpoint Therapeutics Inc., a company which targets biomolecular condensates that he was part of since its inception.
Prior to joining Washington University in 2001, Pappu completed postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and at Washington University School of Medicine. He earned a doctorate in biological physics and a master’s degree in solid state physics and biological physics, all from Tufts University, and bachelor’s degrees in physics, mathematics and electronics from St. Joseph’s College at Bangalore University in Bangalore, India.
Gene K. Beare, an executive and director of numerous high-profile companies in the electronics, telecommunications, defense, paper manufacturing and other fields who was also a benefactor to many charitable, cultural, scientific and educational organizations and institutions, made a commitment in 1998 to establish this professorship. His support for biomedical engineering at the university also includes four named spaces in Uncas A. Whitaker Hall.
Born in Chester, Illinois, Mr. Beare worked his way through Washington University and received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1937. After graduating from Harvard Business School in 1939, he joined Automatic Electric Co. in Chicago as an assistant to the president. Following that, he was president of Sylvania Electronic Products, Inc. and executive vice president of General Telephone and Electronics (GTE).
After retiring from GTE in 1972, Mr. Beare became an executive vice president with General Dynamics Corp., relocating to St. Louis. He retired again in 1980 but continued his directorships.
He served as director on the boards of numerous organizations.
Mr. Beare was president of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, trustee of the National Security Industrial Association, a member of the Pan American Society, and an active member of numerous civic clubs.
In recognition of his distinguished career, the engineering school presented him its Distinguished Alumni Award in 1981 and the Dean’s Medal in 2001. Mr. Beare died in 2005.
