Joseph DeRisi

Joseph DeRisi

Joseph DeRisi is an American biochemist and virologist noted for pioneering work in pathogen discovery and infectious disease diagnostics. He has led laboratories and interdisciplinary teams across University of California, San Francisco, translational research initiatives such as the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, and collaborations with clinical institutions including Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute and San Francisco General Hospital. DeRisi's work bridges molecular biology, genomics, and public health, influencing responses to emergent threats like SARS-CoV-2, West Nile virus, and novel encephalitis-causing agents.

Early life and education

DeRisi was born in the United States and undertook undergraduate studies at Princeton University where he majored in chemistry and worked on projects related to RNA and protein folding. He pursued doctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine in the laboratory of Peter Walter, focusing on molecular chaperones and cellular stress responses. During graduate study he engaged with researchers from Stanford University, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, building expertise in biochemical techniques, nucleic acid analysis, and computational approaches to sequence data. Early mentors and collaborators included investigators affiliated with National Institutes of Health, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Whitehead Institute.

Research and career

DeRisi established a laboratory at University of California, San Francisco that combined microarray technology with virology, collaborating with clinicians from UCSF Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, and Johns Hopkins Hospital. His group developed high-density oligonucleotide arrays to profile pathogens, working alongside teams at Agilent Technologies, Affymetrix, and the Broad Institute. DeRisi has partnered with public health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California Department of Public Health, and international bodies including the World Health Organization on outbreak investigation and surveillance. He co-founded initiatives tied to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and has consulted with technological companies like Google on computational genomics and data sharing. His career spans basic research in Stanford School of Medicine-adjacent networks, translational diagnostics implemented in Mount Sinai Health System and global collaborations in regions affected by Ebola virus disease and Zika virus.

Key contributions and discoveries

DeRisi's laboratory was among the first to apply comprehensive nucleic acid microarrays for pathogen detection, enabling identification of previously unrecognized agents in clinical samples; this approach informed responses to West Nile virus emergence in the United States and investigations of encephalitis outbreaks. His team contributed to metagenomic sequencing efforts that characterized novel viral genomes, collaborating with sequencing centers at the Sanger Institute and the National Center for Biotechnology Information. DeRisi helped develop unbiased sequencing pipelines and bioinformatics workflows used by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention teams and academic groups at Yale University and Columbia University for pathogen discovery. His group played roles in early genomic surveillance during pandemics involving Influenza A virus, SARS coronavirus, and SARS-CoV-2, linking laboratory protocols to clinical laboratories at Massachusetts General Hospital and field laboratories supported by Médecins Sans Frontières. Additionally, DeRisi contributed to the innovation of high-throughput diagnostics, intersecting with work at Illumina and enzyme engineering groups at New England Biolabs to improve sample processing and sequencing library preparation.

Awards and honors

DeRisi's achievements have been recognized by awards and appointments from institutions such as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and societies including the American Society for Microbiology and the National Academy of Medicine. He has received honors linked to translational research from foundations like the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and his work has been cited in reports by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. DeRisi has delivered named lectures at venues including Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Royal Society of London, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting. His teams have been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and collaborative awards involving the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Fogarty International Center.

Personal life and public engagement

DeRisi has appeared in scientific forums, media interviews, and policy discussions alongside figures from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and academic leaders from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has participated in outreach at institutions like Science Museum of Minnesota and public lectures at TED events, engaging audiences about genomics, pathogen emergence, and diagnostic innovation. Collaborations with philanthropic and private-sector partners, including Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Google.org, reflect his commitment to translating research into public health tools. Colleagues and trainees from laboratories at UCSF, Stanford University School of Medicine, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center continue to extend methods he helped establish into global infectious disease surveillance.

Category:American biochemists Category:Virologists