ACA SIG Officer Candidate 2021: Matthew Clifton 

I am currently the head of Structural and Biophysical Chemistry (SBC) at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) in Emeryville. In my previous positions, I worked at Nurix Therapeutics as the Director of Protein Sciences to help enable the discovery of molecular glue and bifunctional degraders (i.e., PROTACs). At Beryllium as a Senior Manager of structural biology focusing on ‘undruggable’ targets with the Broad Institute and infectious disease targets with the Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGCID). My postdoctoral research was performed at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in the lab of Roland Strong, and my Ph.D. work focused on ABC transporters in the lab of Cynthia Stauffacher. I have been a member of the ACA since 2000 and have acted as a chair of Young Scientists SIG session in 2004, and co-chair for Industrial SIG sessions on the ‘Current state of instrumentation, automation, status and future. Focus on practical aspects’ in 2018, and ‘Evolution and Impact of Targeted Protein Degradation in Industry’ in 2020. If elected, one of my main goals will be to attract scientists from pharma, biotech, and CROs to join and participate in the ACA.