Kevin Drew

@ksdrew.bsky.social

Assistant Professor at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in Biological Sciences focused on macromolecular assemblies.

Welcome to our 2026 REU trainees! They spent the week at John Hopkins University completing an introductory bootcamp focused on machine learning and Rosetta software and tools. We can’t wait to see what they accomplish over the summer at their host labs throughout the US and Europe. zurl.co/LhlOI

Group photo of REU trainees on a brick pathway next to trees.Group photo of REU trainees jumping while standing in a line on a brick pathway next to trees.

The results are finally in! 🏆💻🧬 I'm thrilled to announce that the manuscript for the Bits to Binders protein design competition is out on bioRxiv! Here's a summary of our findings, including some simple criteria that nearly *double* success rates when applied as a filter 🧵

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Final stretch to apply for undergraduate summer internships in the Rosetta Commons! Come design proteins, develop AI and physics-based methods to model biomolecules, and impact health, materials, and sustainability! Application deadline is Sunday Feb 1. rosettacommons.org/education/reu/

Undergraduates

Rosetta Commons Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) AI for Biomolecular Structure Prediction and Design Interns in this geographically-distributed REU program participate in research using…

rosettacommons.org

Modern biology research is biased towards investigating genes that are widely conserved and present in humans. What about genes that ARE widely conserved but NOT present in humans? Can genes missing from humans tell us something about what makes our biology different from that of other animals? 1/8

#Wolbachia has puzzled scientists with its power to rewire insect reproduction. What if I tell you that we found one of the keys Wolbachia use to rewire its host AND a small molecule inhibitor uses this key to mimic what this microbe has mastered for millions of years. www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Beyond Wolbachia—Can a small molecule control insect reproduction?

Kaur et al. demonstrate reduced histone acetylation as a key mechanism underpinning Wolbachia’s paternal-effect embryonic lethality trait in Drosophila melanogaster. Recapitulation of this trait by in...

cell.com