We are pleased to announce that lab members Jonas Wilhelm and Chuanyun Xu have been awarded the Washington Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, recognizing outstanding postdoctoral scientists pursuing fellow-driven, transformative research with strong potential for public benefit.

Jonas Wilhelm earned his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Heidelberg in Germany. His research focuses on developing new biological technologies to remove methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere to help mitigate near-term climate change. Using machine-learning–based protein design, he engineers enzymes capable of efficiently converting methane at extremely low atmospheric concentrations, addressing key limitations of existing greenhouse-gas removal strategies. This work could enable scalable, low-energy biological systems, including engineered crop plants that function as passive methane sinks.

Chuanyun Xu earned his PhD in Biology from Stanford University. As a WRF Postdoctoral Fellow, he integrates state-of-the-art protein design technologies to develop new transmembrane proteins for cellular sensing and control. His work aims to advance fundamental neurobiology research and enable new therapeutic strategies by creating programmable tools to interrogate and manipulate cellular signaling.
The WRF Postdoctoral Fellowship supports exceptional postdoctoral researchers in Washington State who are conducting innovative research in the natural sciences and engineering. The fellowship provides critical resources and independence to support this high-risk, high-impact research.

Congrats Jonas and Chuan!