Our People
We are a team of molecular and cellular biologists, biophysicists, protein designers, and biological engineers. We believe the solutions to the most pressing problems in science and medicine lie outside of traditional disciplinary boundaries. We are united by our passion to unlock the hidden biology and powerful applications of biological peptides – enabling us to study and control protein interactions, and therefore cellular physiology, at an unprecedented scale.
Andrew Savinov, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator | Chief Peptide Wrangler
Dr. Andrew Savinov is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences, coming to UT Austin as an NIH K99/R00 fellow and a CPRIT Scholar. Previously, he obtained his Ph.D. in Biophysics from Stanford University, and performed postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Drawing on cutting-edge approaches combining high-throughput experimental biology with AI-driven computational structural proteomics, his lab discovers and designs protein fragments as universal regulators of protein interactions in health and disease. The Savinov lab employs targeted protein fragment inhibitors to study and control cellular interaction pathways, develop novel therapeutics, and illuminate the physiological and pathological roles of naturally occurring protein fragments – including in the contexts of antibiotic resistance, cell migration, neurodegeneration, and cancer.
You?
The Savinov Lab opens its doors September 2026! We are looking for curious and passionate scientists at all levels, from undergraduates to postdoctoral researchers. Please reach out to Dr. Savinov about opportunities.
Alumni and previous trainees
Andrew Van Dusen
Undergraduate Researcher
Andrew worked with Dr. Savinov during his time at MIT, contributing to ongoing development of our FragFold AI method to predict functional protein fragments, and combined experimental and computational discovery of naturally occurring protein fragments with major impacts on bacterial physiology (stay tuned!) Now a senior at MIT, Andrew continues to work with the lab from afar!
Andres Fernandez
Undergraduate Researcher
Andres worked with Dr. Savinov during his time at the University of Washington, contributing to the development of high-throughput inhibitory protein fragment scanning experiments (see Savinov, Fernandez, and Fields, PNAS 2022). Andres is now a Ph.D. student with Dr. Melody Campbell at the Fred Hutch Cancer Institute!