Michelle Arkin is a chemical biologist, Executive Director of the Small Molecule Discovery Center, and Vice Dean of Research Technology and Entrepreneurship in the School of Pharmacy at UCSF. Her research focuses on developing methods and molecules that target currently ‘undruggable proteins,’ including protein-protein interactions and dynamic or intrinsically disordered proteins. For this work, she was recognized by the 2024 ACS Cope Scholar Award, 2024 ACS/Biochemistry Gordon Hammes Lecturer Award, and 2025 Harrison Howe Award (Rochester section of the ACS).
Prior to UCSF, Dr. Arkin was a scientist at Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, where she helped discover small molecule inhibitors of IL-2/IL-2R and LFA/ICAM (the anti-inflammatory drug lifitegrast, marketed by Novartis). She serves on the advisory boards for several pharmaceutical companies and is a co-founder of Elgia Tx, Ambagon Tx, ResNovas Tx, and BNM Oncology.