Rate My Professor Alex Vecchio

Alex J. Vecchio, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Structural Biology at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, a position he has held since 2023. He received his PhD in Structural Biology from the University at Buffalo in 2011, following a BS in Biology from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2000. His postdoctoral training included a position as Postdoctoral Scholar in Structural Biology at the University at Buffalo in 2012, NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship and subsequent Postdoctoral Scholar/Specialist II roles in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco in 2015 and 2018, respectively. Prior academic appointments include Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 2018 to 2023, Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at San Francisco State University in 2016, and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of San Francisco from 2015 to 2016. Earlier in his career, he worked as a Scientist at Bristol-Myers Squibb from 2001 to 2006.

The research in the Vecchio laboratory employs structural biology, biochemistry, and biophysics techniques to study the structures, assembly, and functions of small integral membrane protein complexes, particularly those forming tight junctions, with implications for disease and therapeutics. Current projects involve 3D structure determination using crystallography and cryo-EM, biophysical characterization of protein interactions, and development of biomolecular tools. Notable publications include “One-shot design of functional protein binders with BindCraft” (Nature, 2025), “Computational design of soluble and functional membrane protein analogues” (Nature, 2024), “Cryo-EM structures of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin bound to its human receptor, claudin-4” (Structure, 2024), “Biophysical basis of tight junction barrier modulation by a pan-claudin-binding molecule” (PNAS Nexus, 2025), and highly cited earlier works such as “Crystal structure of aspirin-acetylated human cyclooxygenase-2: insight into the formation of products with reversed stereochemistry” (Biochemistry, 2016; 271 citations) and “Structural basis of fatty acid substrate binding to cyclooxygenase-2” (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2010; 207 citations). Vecchio has been awarded the NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) in 2025 and 2020, Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2012, Early Stage Investigator award from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2019, and the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Dissertation Research from the University at Buffalo in 2012. He currently serves as principal investigator on NIH-funded grants including a MIRA for structure and assembly of membrane proteins at tight junctions.