Dennis Wolan

Programs and Courses Taught

BMS 604

About Me

My background is in chemical biology and drug discovery, with a particular focus on the human microbiome and infectious disease. I spent a decade running a research lab at The Scripps Research Institute, where my team developed new antibiotics, antiviral compounds, and tools to study the gut microbiome in inflammatory bowel disease. I then moved to Genentech, where I led drug discovery programs aimed at understanding how our microbiome influences health and disease.

Along the way, I've authored 70+ scientific publications, hold 7 patents, and have mentored over 30 graduate students, postdocs, and research trainees. My research has been funded by the NIH and pharma, and I've had the privilege of presenting at institutions and conferences around the world.

Education

BS, Chemistry 
Bowling Green State University

PhD, Macromolecular Cellular Structure and Chemistry 
The Scripps Research Institute

Teaching Interests

Drug Discovery, Chemical Biology, Target Identification, Structural Biology, X-ray Crystallography, Mass Spectrometry/Proteomics, Microbiome Research, IBD Therapeutics, Infectious Disease, Oncology

Publications

Yao, L., Solania, S., Luissint, A.-C., Balana, A.T., Zhang, H., Sangaruaju, D., Lai, Z., Kuo, J., Storek, K.M., and Wolan, D.W. 2026 “The secreted metabolite isopentenyladenine from Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is anti-inflammatory with barrier-protective properties.” ACS Infect. Dis. 12, 224-236

Kitamura, S.*, Lee, C.-C.D., Takamura, A., Kadam, R.U., Zhu, X., Dada, L., Yu, W., Yao, Y., Sharpless, K.B., Wilson, I.A.*, and Wolan, D.W. 2024 “Ultra-potent influenza hemagglutinin fusion inhibitors developed through SuFEx-enabled high-throughput medicinal chemistry.” PNAS. 121, e2310677121

Thuy-Boun, P.S., Wang, A.Y., Crissien-Martinez, A., Xu, J.H., Chatterjee, S., Stupp, G.S., Su, A.I., Coyle, W.J., and Wolan, D.W. 2022 “Quantitative metaproteomics and activity-based protein profiling of patient fecal microbiome identifies host and microbial serine-type endopeptidase activity associated with ulcerative colitis.” Mol. Cell. Prot. 21, 100197

Kitamura, S., Zheng, Q., Woehl, J.L., Solania, A., Chen, E., Dillon, N., Hull, M.V., Kotaniguchi, M., Kitamura, S., Nizet, V., Sharpless, K.B., and Wolan, D.W. 2020 “Sulfur(VI) fluoride exchange (SuFEx)-enabled high-throughput medicinal chemistry.” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 142, 10899–10904

Kitamura, S., Owensby, A., Wall, D., and Wolan, D.W. 2018. “Lipoprotein signal peptidase inhibitors with antibiotic properties identified through design of a robust in vitro HT platform.” Cell Chem. Biol. 25, 301-308.

Wright, Z.V.F., Wu, N.C., Kadam, R.U., Wilson, I.A., and Wolan, D.W. 2017. “Structure-based optimization and synthesis of antiviral drug Arbidol analogues with significantly improved affinity to influenza hemagglutinin.” Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 27, 3744-3748

Backus, K.M., Correia, B.E., Lum, K.M., Forli, S., Horning, B.D., González-Páez, G.E., Chatterjee, S., Lanning, B.R., Teijaro, J.R., Olson, A.J., Wolan, D.W., and Cravatt, B.F. 2016. “Proteome-wide covalent ligand discovery in native biological systems.” Nature. 534, 570-574

Professional Affiliations & Memberships

American Chemical Society 
International Proteolysis Society 
American Association of Cancer Research

Honors & Awards

Genentech’s Research Innovation Fund Recipient (2022) 
Royal Society of Chemistry Horizon Prize (2021) 
Keystone Symposia on Microbiome Organizer and Lecturer (2019) 
Solvay Conference Lectureship and Proceedings Editor (2013)