Michael H. Gelb

Professor Michael H. Gelb is a biochemist and chemist specialising in enzymes and particularly those of medical significance.

Gelb studied chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, Davis before taking a Ph.D under Stephen G. Sligar at Yale University on aspects of the catalytic mechanism of cytochrome P450. Granted an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellowship, he then investigated mechanism-based inactivators of serine proteases and developed fluorinated ketones as tight-binding inhibitors of several classes of proteases, working with Robert H. Abeles at Brandeis University.

Since 1985 Gelb has been a faculty member at the University of Washington.

Gelb's awards include:
 * A Merit Award from the National Institutes of Health
 * Medicines for Malaria Venture Project of the Year
 * The Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry.
 * The ICI Pharmaceuticals Award for Excellence in Chemistry (1993).
 * An Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship.
 * A New Faculty Development Award from Merck Research Laboratories.

Major accomplishments from the Gelb laboratory include: 1) The discovery of protein isoprenylation in the late 1980s (together with Professor John Glomset); 2) The development of methods to analyze enzymes that work on membrane surfaces (together with Professors Mahendra Jain and Otto Berg); 3) The development of Isotope Coded Affinity Tag reagents for quantitative proteomics (together with Professors Ruedi Aebersold and Frank Turecek); 4) The development of tandem mass spectrometry for newborn screening of enzyme deficiency diseases (together with Professors Frank Turecek and C. Ronald Scott).

His current research interests include: 1) Studying the function and regulation of a group of enzymes called phospholipase A2 that are involved in lipid mediator biosynthesis related to inflammation; 2) Anti-malaria and anti-trypanosome drug discovery; 3) New technology for the newborn screening of enzyme deficiency diseases including lysosomal storage diseases. In his spare time Gelb enjoys surfing, playing classical guitar and muscle cars.