Dr. Gestwicki completed undergraduate studies at SUNY Fredonia in 1997 and earned his Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin in 2002. He then performed post-doctoral studies at Stanford University prior to starting his independent group at University of Michigan in 2005. In 2013, his group relocated to the University of California at San Francisco, joining the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases.

The Gestwicki Laboratory is interested in how molecular chaperones regulate protein folding and homeostasis. They discover and develop new chemical probes that they use to disrupt chaperone function, revealing how these factors are involved in the triage of misfolded proteins. Misfolded proteins are known to accumulate in many disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, by better understanding the roles of molecular chaperones in disease, the Gestwicki group hopes to identify new opportunities for drug discovery. Ultimately, they are working towards rebalancing protein homeostasis as a new treatment for neurodegenerative disorders.

In their quest to understand chaperone function, the Gestwicki group primarily uses high throughput screening, molecular design, protein biochemistry and organic synthesis. They are particularly interested in finding ways of perturbing the function of traditionally “undruggable” proteins, by targeting protein-protein interactions and allosteric sites.