Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Dr. Sgourakis’ earned his PhD in Biology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with Angel Garcia in 2009, focusing on blending simulation and experimental approaches to study intrinsically disordered proteins. Under mentorship from Nobel Laureate David Baker, he focused on modeling the structures of protein complexes using sparse data, and completed his training with Adriaan Bax at the NIH, he explored uses of biomolecular NMR spectroscopy for understanding viral immune evasion mechanisms. These experiences laid the foundation for his independent research program focusing on deciphering and targeting the MHC-I antigen progressing and presentation pathway.
During his 5-year tenure at the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr. Sgourakis has steered his work toward immunotherapy applications against pediatric solid tumors, ensuring that his discoveries have real-world therapeutic impact. Dr. Sgourakis’ Lab is part of two international Teams that were selected by the international Cancer Grand Challenges consortium, aiming to develop T cell-based therapeutics.
His Team blends structural biology, with computational and protein engineering approaches aiming to restore immune surveillance of intracellular driver oncoproteins in solid tumors.