Spring 2025 Grantee Highlight:
Carolyn R. Bertozzi

Carolyn R. Bertozzi, PhD
Professor of Chemistry and Investigator of Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University

The Bertozzi Lab is developing a new approach that uses gene therapy to deliver a genetically encoded “antibody degrader.” This allows the body to continuously produce the degrader over time, enabling sustained clearance of disease-causing antibodies. This work builds on the lab’s previous development of lysosome-targeting chimeras (LYTACs)—a platform designed to degrade disease-associated proteins outside cells. In this project, the team will create new, genetically encoded versions of LYTACs and test them in both cell cultures and mouse models to evaluate their ability to clear autoantibodies.

This strategy has the potential to enable durable, targeted treatment of antibody-mediated autoimmune diseases and may reduce the need for chronic immunosuppressive therapy.