Dirk Trauner was born and raised in Linz, Austria, where he studied biology and chemistry at the University of Vienna, and received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the Free University, Berlin. He then pursued graduate studies in chemistry under the direction of Prof. Johann Mulzer, with whom he moved to the University of Frankfurt and then back to Vienna where he obtained his Ph.D. Following a glorious stint in the Austrian Army, he became a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Samuel J. Danishefsky at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. After two great years in New York City, Dr. Trauner joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, where he rose through the ranks to become an Associate Professor of chemistry (with tenure) and a member of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In 2008, he moved to the University of Munich as a Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Genetics. In the Spring of 2017 he returned to the United States as the Janice Cutler Chair in Chemistry at New York University. In July of 2022, he moved to the University of Pennsylvania to serve as the Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor. The broad objective of Prof. Trauner’s research is to demonstrate the awesome power of chemical synthesis with challenging target molecules and to use it toward the establishment of synthetic biological pathways. He is well known for his pioneering contributions to Optogenetics and Photopharmacology, using synthetic photoswitches to confer light-sensitivity to a broad range of targets. The chemical tools he developed are particularly useful in neuroscience and cell biology but also hold promise as precision therapeutics. Despite his extensive forays into biology and physiology Dr. Trauner remains an organic chemist at heart, as evidenced by the synthesis (and anticipation) of more than one hundred twenty natural products. Dirk Trauner has been awarded the 2021 ACS Cope Scholar Award, the 2016 Emil Fischer Medal, and the 2016 Otto Bayer Award. He is a Member of the German National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina, a Corresponding Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Dirk is also the recipient of the Kitasato Medal, the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, an ERC Advanced Grant, and the Austrian Chemical Society Award for the best thesis in 1997. He sits on the editorial board of Organic Syntheses, the editorial advisory board of ACS Central Science, ACS Chemical Neuroscience, Cell Chemical Biology, and Chem. His students have taken positions at many leading pharmaceutical companies and universities.

Neuroscience is one of the most exciting fields of research today and synthetic chemistry can contribute much to its growth. Our current focus lies on the functional manipulation of ion channels, GPCRs, and transporters with synthetic photoswitches, usually azobenzenes. The artificial photoreceptors so obtained can be inserted into neurons and other cell types and can be used to control various biological pathways with light (Photopharmacology). One of our major biological goals is the restoration of vision in the blind using synthetic photoswitches. The reach of photopharmacology, however, goes well beyond applications in neuroscience and sensory physiology. It is already clear that this approach is very useful for controlling the highly dynamic systems that underlie cell motility, cell division and (unwanted) proliferation. As such, photopharmacology provides powerful tools for cell biology and could open a new direction in precison medicine.

"Dopamine D1 receptor activation in the striatum is sufficient to drive reinforcement of anteceding cortical patterns" Vendrell-Llopis, N.; Read, J.; Boggiano, S.; Hetzler, B.; Peitsinis, Z.; Stanley, C.; Visel, M.; Trauner, D.; Donthamsetti, P.; Carmena, J.; Lammel, S.; Isacoff, E. Y. Neuron, 0896-6273, 2025 "An opioid efficacy switch for reversible optical control of peripheral analgesia" Posa, L.; Romano, G.; Ji, X.; Khan, S.; Paz, B. M.; Han, G. W.; Nazarova, A. L.; Zaidi, S. A.; Ranjbar, M.; Pleil, K.; Katritch, V.; Gati, C.; Trauner, D.; Levitz J. Biorxiv, 2025 "Biomimetic Synthesis of Azorellolide via Cyclopropylcarbinyl Cation Chemistry" Artzy, J. Y.; Tantillo, D. J.; Trauner, D.Journal of the American Chemical Society, 147 (1), 78-83, 2025 "Photoswitchable Diazocine Derivative for Adenosine A3 Receptor Activation in Psoriasis" López-Cano, M.; Scortichini, M.; Tosh, K. D.; Salmaso, V.; Ko, T.; Salort, G.; Filgaira, I.; Soler, C.; Trauner, D.; Hernando, J.; Jacobson, A. K.; Ciruela F. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 147 (1), 874-879, 2025 "Concise Synthesis of (–)-Veratramine and (–)-20-epi-Veratramine via Aromative Diels-Alder Reaction" Zott M.; Zuschlag D.; Trauner D. Journal of the American Chemical Society, Article ASAP "Optical Control of TRPM8 Channels with Photoswitchable Menthol" Becker, J.; Ellerkmann, C. S.; Schmelzer, H.; Hermann, C.; Lützel, K.; Gudermann, T.; Konrad, D. B.; Trauner, D.; Storch, U.; Mederos Y. S. M. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, e202416549. "Optical control of sphingolipid biosynthesis using photoswitchable sphingosines" Kol, M.; Novak, A.; Morstein, J.; Schröer, C.; Sokoya, T.; Mensing, S.; Korneev, S. M.; Trauner, D.; Holthuis J. Journal of Lipid Research,2024, 100724 "Neuroprotective effect of neuron-specific deletion of the C16 ceramide synthetic enzymes in an animal model of multiple sclerosis" Amatruda, M.; Marechal, D.; Gacias, M.; Wentling, M.; Turpin-Nolan, S.; Morstein, J.; Moniruzzaman, M.; Brüning, J. C.; Haughey, N. J.; Trauner, D. H.; Casaccia, P. Glia, 2024, 1-20. "Cell-Specific Optical Control of AMPA Glutamate Receptors with a Photoswitchable Tethered Antagonist" Trauner, D.; Leipppe, P.; Donthamsetti, P.; Ko, T.; Stanley, C.; Isacoff, E. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 2024, e202411181. "Light-Activatable, Cell-Type Specific Labeling of the Nascent Proteome" Evans, H. T.; Ko, T.; Oliveira, M. M.; Yu, A.; Kalavai, S. V.; Golhan, E. N.; Polavarapu, A.; Balamoti, E.; Wu, V.; Klann, E.; Trauner, D. ACS Chemical Neuroscience 2024, ASAP. "Optical Control of Cardiac Electrophysiology by the Photochromic Ligand AzoBupivacaine 2" Fehrentz, T.; Amin, E.; Görldt, N.; Strasdeit, T.; Moussavi-Torshizi, S. E.; Leippe, P.;Trauner, D.; Meyer, C.; Frey, N.; Sasse, P.; Klöcker, N. 2024, British Journal of Pharmacology, 1–18 "Pixelated High-Q Metasurfaces for in Situ Biospectroscopy and Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Classification of Lipid Membrane Photoswitching Dynamics" Barkey, M.; Büchner, R.; Wester, A.; Pritzl, S. D.; Makarenko, M.; Wang, Q.; Weber, T.; Trauner, D.; Maier, S. A.; Fratalocchi, A.; Lohmüller, T.; Tittl. ACS Nano 2024 18 (18), 11644-11654 "Synthetic Efforts toward Lannotinidine G Based on an Aziridinium-Mediated Ring Contraction and Dienyne Metathesis" Peitsinis Z.; Trauner. D. H. Org. Lett. 2024, ASAP. "Optical Control of G-Actin with a Photoswitchable Latrunculin" Vepřek, N. A.; Cooper, M. H.; Laprell, L.; Yang, E. J.-N.; Folkerts, S.; Bao, R.; Boczkowska, M.; Palmer, N. J.; Dominguez, R.;Oertner, T. G.; Pon, L. A.; Zuchero, J. B.; Trauner, D. H. J. Am. Chem. Soc.2024,146, 8895–8903. "Identification of the Growth Cone as a Probe and Driver of Neuronal Migration in the Injured Brain“ Nakajima, C.; Sawada, M.; Umeda, E.; Takagi, Y.; Nakashima, N.; Kuboyama, K.; Kaneko, N.; Yamamoto, S.; Nakamura, H.; Shimada, N.; Nakamura, K.; Matsuno, K.; Uesugi, S.; Vepřek, N. A.; Küllmer, F.; Nasuvović, V.; Uchiyama, H.; Nakada, M.; Otsuka, Y.; Ito, Y.; Herantz-Pérez, V.; Garcia-Verdugo, J.-M.; Ohno, M.; Arndt, H.-D.; Trauner, D.; Tabata, Y.; Igarashi, M; Sawamoto, K. Nature Commun., 2024, 15, 1-19. "Optical Control of Proteasomal Protein Degradation with a Photoswitchable Lipopeptide" Morstein, J.; Amatuni, A.; Shuster, A.; Kuttenlochner, W.; Ko, T.; Abegg, D.; Groll, M.; Adibekian, A.; Renata, H.; Trauner, D. H. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, 63, e2023147. "Photoswitchable Inhibitors of the Sarco(endo)plasmic Calcium Pump" Hjorth-Jensen, S. J.; Konrad, D. B.; Quistgaard, E. M. H.; Hansen, L. C.; Novak, A.; Chu, H.; Jurášek, M.; Zimmermann, T.; Andersen, J. L.; Baran, P. S.; Nissen, P.*; Trauner, D.* ChemRxiv 2023 "Photoactivated Protein Degrader for Optical Control of Synaptic Function" Ko, T.; Jou, C.; Grau-Perales, A. B.; Reynders, M.; Fenton, A. A.; Trauner, D. ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2023, 14, 3704–3713. "Optical Control of Dopamine D2-like Receptors with Cell-Specific Fast-Relaxing Photoswitches" Hetzler, B. E.; Donthamsetti, P.; Peitsinis, Z.; Stanley, C.; Trauner, D.; Isacoff, E. Y. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 18778–18788. "Photoswitchable Molecular Glues Enable Optical Control of Transcription Factor Degradation" Arp, C. J.; Reynders, M.; Sreekanth, V.; Kokkonda, P.; Pagano, M.; Choudhary, A.; Trauner, D. bioRxiv 2023. "To Isomerize or not to Isomerize? E /Z Isomers of Cyclic Azobenzene Derivatives and their Reactivity upon One-Electron Reduction" Glotz, G.; Knaipp, K.; Maier, M. S.; Hüll, K.; Novak, A.; Kelterer, A.-M.; Griebenow, T.; Herges, R.; Trauner, D.; Gescheidt, G. Chem. Eur. J. 2023, e202300146 "Development of Light Activated LXR Agonists" Mukhopadhyay, T. K.; Willems, S.; Arp, C. J.; Morstein, J.; Haake, C. T.; Merk, D.; Trauner, D. ChemMedChem 2023, e202200647 "Structural diversity of photoswitchable sphingolipids for optodynamic control of lipid microdomains" Hartrampf, N.; Leitao, S. M.; Winter, N.; Toombs-Ruane, H.; Frank, J. A.; Schwille, P.; Trauner, D.; Franquelim, H. G. Biophys. J. 2023, 22, 1–17. "Fluorescent azobenzene-confined coiled-coil mesofibers" Punia, K.; Britton, D.; Hüll, K.; Yin, L.; Wang, Y.; Renfrew, P. D.; Gilchrist, M. L.; Bonneau, R.; Trauner, D.; Montclare, J. K. Soft Matter, 2023, 19, 497-501. "Mapping light distribution in tissue by using MRI-detectable photosensitive liposomes" Simon, J.; Schwalm, M.; Morstein, J.; Trauner, D.; Jasanoff, A. Nat. Biomed. Eng. 2023, 7, 313–322. "Concise Synthesis of Glycerophospholipids" Mukhopadhyay, T. K.; Trauner, D. J. Org. Chem. 2023, 88, 11253–11257. "Optical Control of Translation with a Puromycin Photoswitch" Ko, T.; Oliveira, M. M.; Alapin, J. M.; Morstein, J.; Klann, E.; Trauner, D. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 21494–21501. "Photoswitchable Isoprenoid Lipids Enable Optical Control of Peptide Lipidation" Morstein, J.; Bader, T.; Cardillo, A. L.; Schackmann, J.; Ashok, S.; Hougland, J. L.; Hrycyna, C. A.; Trauner, D. H.; Distefano, M. D. ACS Chem. Biol. 2022, 17, 2945–2953. "Medium-Chain Lipid Conjugation Facilitates Cell-Permeability and Bioactivity" Morstein, J.; Capecchi, A.; Hinnah, K.; Park, B.; Petit-Jacques, J.; Van Lehn, R. C.; Reymond, J.-L.; Trauner, D. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 18532–18544. "Postsynthetic Photocontrol of Giant Liposomes via Fusion-Based Photolipid Doping" Pritzl, S. D.; Morstein, J.; Kahler, S.; Konrad, D. B.; Trauner, D.; Lohmüller, T. Langmuir 2022, 38, 11941–11949. "Optical Control of Neuronal Activities with Photoswitchable Nanovesicles" Xiong, H.; Alberto, K. A.; Youn, J.; Taura, J.; Morstein, J.; Li, X.; Wang, Y.; Trauner, D.; Slesinger, P. A.; Nielsen, S. O.; Qin, Z. Nano Res. 2023, 16, 1033–1041. "Next Generation Opto-Jasplakinolides Enable Local Remodeling of Actin Networks" Küllmer, F.; Vepřek, N. A.; Borowiak, M.; Nasufović, V.; Barutzki, S.; Thorn-Seshold, O.; Arndt, H-D.; Trauner, D. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, e202210220. "Assembling the carbon skeleton of A-74528" Maier, M. S.; Shemet, A.; Trauner, D. Chem. Sci., 2022, 13, 8395–8400 "Photoactivation of a Mechanosensitive Channel" Crea, F.; Vorka, A.; Redlich, A.; Cruz, R.; Shi, C.; Trauner, D.; Lange, A.; Schlesinger, R.; Heberle, J. Front. Mol. Biosci. 2022, 9, 905306. "Complex Natural Products Derived from Pyrogallols" Novak, A. J. E.; Trauner, D. In Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products 118; Kinghorn, A. D., Falk, H., Gibbons, S., Asakawa, Y., Liu, J.-K., Dirsch, V. M.; Springer International Publishing: Cham, 2022, 1-46. "Photopharmacological Control of Cell Signaling with Photoswitchable Lipids” Mukhopadhyay, T. K.; Morstein, J.; Trauner D. Curr. Opin. Pharmacol. 2022, 63, 102202 "Optical Control of Membrane Fluidity Modulates Protein Secretion" Jiménez-Rojo, N.; Feng, S.; Morstein, J.; Pritzl, S. D.; Harayama, T.; Asaro, A.; Vepřek, N. A.; Arp, C. J. Reynders, M.; Novak, A. J. E.; Kanshin, E.; Ueberheide, B.; Lohmüller, T.; Riezman, H.; Trauner, D. BioRxiv. 2022 "Natural product anticipation through synthesis" Hetzler, B. E.; Trauner, D.; Lawrence, A. L. Nat. Rev. Chem. 2022, 6, 170–181. "Optical Membrane Control with Red Light Enabled by Red-Shifted Photolipids" Pritzl, S. D.; Konrad, D. B.; Ober, M. F.; Richter, A. F.; Frank, J. A.; Nickel, B.; Trauner, D.; Lohmüller, T. Langmuir 2022, 38, 385–393. "Photoswitchable Serotonins for Optical Control of the 5-HT2A Receptor" Morstein, J.; Romano, G.; Hetzler, B.; Plante, A.; Haake, C.; Levitz, J.; Trauner, D. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, e202117094. "A Concise Synthesis of Tetrodotoxin" Konrad, D. B.; Rühmann, K-P.; Ando, H.; Hetzler, B. E.; Matsuura, B. S.; Trauner, D. Science. 2022, 377, 411–415. "Optical Control of Glycerolipids and Sphingolipids" Trauner, D.; Morstein, J. Chimia 2021, 75, 1022–1025. "Optical Control of Mitosis with a Photoswitchable Eg5 Inhibitor" Impastato, A. C.; Shemet, A.; Vepřek, N. A.; Saper, G.; Rao, L.; Hess, H.; Gennerich, A.; Trauner, D. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 61, e2021158. "Cholesterol and sphingomyelin are critical for Fcγ receptor-mediated phagocytosis of Cryptococcus neoformans by macrophages" Bryan, A. M.; You, J. K.; Li, G.; Kim, J.; Singh, A.; Morstein, J.; Trauner, D.; Pereira de Sá, N.; Normile, T. G.; Farnoud, A. M.; London, E.; Del Poeta, M. J. Biol. Chem. 2021, 297, 101411. "PHOTACs Enable Optical Control of Protein Degradation" Reynders, M.; Trauner, D. (Book Chapter) In Targeted Protein Degradation: Methods and Protocols; Cacace, A. M.,Hickey, C. M., Békés, M., Eds.; Springer US: New York, NY, 2021, 315-329. "Optical Control of Adenosine-Mediated Pain Modulation" Hüll, K.; Fernández-Dueñas, V.; Schönberger, M.; López-Cano, M.; Trauner, D.; Ciruela, F. Bioconjugate Chem. 2021, 32, 1979–1983. "De novo Design of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Inhibitors" Fischer, C.; Vepřek, N. A.; Peitsinis, Z.; Rühmann, K-P.; Yang, C.; Spradlin, J. N.; Dovala, D.; Nomura, D. K.; Zhang, Y.; Trauner, D. Synlett, 2021, 32, A–F. "Cell specific photoswitchable agonist for reversible control of endogenous dopamine receptors" Donthamsetti, P.; Winter, N.; Hoagland, A.; Stanley, C.; Visel, M.; Lammel, S.; Trauner, D.; Isacoff, E. Nat. Commun. 2021, 12, 4775. "Optical Control of Phosphatidic Acid Signaling" Tei, R.; Morstein, J.; Shemet, A.; Trauner, D.; Baskin, J. M. ACS Cent. Sci. 2021, 7, 1205–1215. "A Photohormone for Light-Dependent Control of PPARα in Live Cells" Willems, S.; Morstein, J.; Hinnah, K.; Trauner, D.; Merk, D. J. Med. Chem. 2021, 64, 10393–10402. "How Photoswitchable Lipids Affect the Order and Dynamics of Lipid Bilayers and Embedded Proteins" Doroudgar, M.; Morstein, J.; Becker-Baldus, J.; Trauner, D.; Glaubitz. C. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 9515–9528. "Perfect and Defective 13C-Furan-Derived Nanothreads from Modest-Pressure Synthesis Analyzed by 13C NMR" Matsuura, B. S.; Huss, S.; Zheng, Z.; Yuan, S.; Wang, T.; Chen, B.; Badding, J. V.; Trauner, D.; Elacqua, E.; van Duin, A. C. T.; Crespi, V. H.; Schmidt-Rohr, K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 9529–9542. "Selective Photoswitchable Allosteric Agonist of a G Protein-Coupled Receptor" Donthamsetti, P.; Konrad, D. B.; Hetzler, B.; Fu, Z.; Trauner, D.; Isacoff, E. Y. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 8951–8956. "Optical control of targeted protein degradation" Reynders, M.; Trauner, D. Cell Chem. Bio. 2021, 28, 969–986. "Controlling the Covalent Reactivity of a Kinase Inhibitor with Light" Reynders, M.; Chaikuad, A.; Berger, B.-T.; Bauer, K.; Koch, P.; Laufer, S.; Knapp, S.; Trauner, D. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 20178 –20183 "Computational Exploration of the Mechanism of Critical Steps in the Biomimetic Synthesis of Preuisolactone A, and Discovery of New Ambimodal (5 + 2)/(4 + 2) Cycloadditions" Zhang, H.; Novak, A. J. E.; Jamieson, C. S.; Xue, X; Chen, S.; Trauner, D.; Houk, K. N. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 6601–6608. "Optimized Photoactivatable Lipid Nanoparticles Enable Red Light Triggered Drug Release" Chander, N.; Morstein, J.; Bolten, J. S.; Shemet, A.; Cullis, P. R.; Trauner, D.; Witzigmann, D. Small 2021, 17, 2008198 "Short Photoswitchable Ceramides Enable Optical Control of Apoptosis" Morstein, J.; Kol, M.; Novak, A. J. E.; Feng, S.; Khayyo, S.; Hinnah,K.; Li-Purcell, N.; Pan, G.; Williams, B. M.; Riezman, H.; Atilla-Gokcumen, G. E.; Holthuis, J. C. M.; Trauner, D. ACS Chem. Biol. 2021, 16, 452–456.