# Chris Bahl

> Chris Bahl is a Boston-based protein designer, biochemist and founder, president and CEO of AI Proteins. After training at the University of Maine, Dartmouth and David Baker’s University of Washington laboratory, he led protein design at the Institute for Protein Innovation before founding AI Proteins in 2021. He also founded the Boston Protein Design and Modeling Club and co-founded a Latin American protein-design workshop.

- **Role:** President, Chief Executive Officer and Founder at AI Proteins
- **Organizations:** AI Proteins, Boston Protein Design and Modeling Club, Rosetta Commons, Latin American Workshop on Artificial Intelligence for Protein Design, Nucleate, Applied Photophysics, BioLoomics, IMPRINT Labs, Institute for Protein Innovation (former), University of Washington Institute for Protein Design (former), The Protein Society (former Executive Council member)
- **Education:** BS, Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology; minors in Chemistry and Microbiology, University of Maine, MS, Biochemistry; advisor Robert Gundersen, University of Maine, PhD, Biochemistry; advisor Dean Madden, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
- **Known for:** E. Lucile Smith Award for scientific excellence in biochemistry, Dartmouth, 2012., University of Washington Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, 2017., Hans Neurath Outstanding Promise Travel Award, Protein Society, 2017.

## Career timeline

- **2012–2017** — Senior Fellow in protein design with David Baker at the University of Washington.
- **2016** — Co-first author on work developing computational methods to design constrained peptides.
- **2017–2021** — Head of Protein Design at the Institute for Protein Innovation.
- **2017** — Founded the Boston Protein Design and Modeling Club.
- **2019** — Became a TED Fellow.
- **2021** — Founded AI Proteins and left his full-time academic lab with members of his research group; initially president and chief scientific officer.
- **2023** — Co-founded the Latin American Workshop on AI for Protein Design.
- **2025** — Appointed CEO of AI Proteins in January; company announced $41.5 million Series A financing in November.
- **2025–2027** — Elected to the Rosetta Commons executive board.

## Achievements

- E. Lucile Smith Award for scientific excellence in biochemistry, Dartmouth, 2012.
- University of Washington Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, 2017.
- Hans Neurath Outstanding Promise Travel Award, Protein Society, 2017.
- TED Fellow, 2019.
- Co-first author on 2016 constrained-peptide design research.
- AI Proteins selected as one of 25 Falling Walls Venture competition winners, 2024.
- Addgene Blue Flame Award for scientific sharing and impact, 2026, listed in his September 2026 CV.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — On October 21, AI Proteins announced a research collaboration and license agreement with Astellas Pharma described as valued at over $400 million; the public page provides the announcement title and date, without detailed financial terms.
- **2026-09** — His CV, prepared September 18, lists an Addgene Blue Flame Award and service as chair of the Rosetta Commons Financial Sustainability Committee.
- **2026-01** — Featured in the Protein Society’s From CEO to CEO interview, discussing his career and the team decision behind founding AI Proteins.
- **2025-11** — AI Proteins announced $41.5 million Series A financing and a hub-and-spoke business model on November 19.

## Links

- Website: https://www.christopherbahl.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cdbahl
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/bahl_lab
- GitHub: https://github.com/cdbahl
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@chrisbahl
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/cdbahl.com

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/chris-bahl
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22