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Biography of David Julius | UC San Francisco

David Julius, PhD hugs colleague Sandy Johnson, PhD after winning the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences on September 5, 2019. Take a look at the press kit. Photo by Noah Berger

David Julius, PhD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Physiology at UC San Francisco and holds the Morris Herzstein Chair in Molecular Biology and Medicine.

He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Science and has received numerous honors and awards. These include the Kavli Prize in Neuroscience (2020), the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2019), the Canada Gairdner International Award (2017), the Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research (2013), the Shaw Prize (2010), the Passano Award (2010), Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research (2010), Scolnick Prize of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT (2007) , Unilever Science Prize (2007) and Klaus Joachim Zülch Neuroscience Prize (2006).

Julius was born on November 4, 1955 in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, where he attended public elementary and high schools. He received his BS degree in life sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1973-77) and gained his first research experience in Alexander Rich’s laboratory, where he studied the mechanisms of tRNA aminoacylation. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in biochemistry (1977-84), where he worked with Jeremy Thorner and Randy Schekman to elucidate mechanisms of peptide hormone processing and secretion in Saccharomyces yeast.

Julius was a postdoctoral fellow (1984-1990) in Richard Axel’s laboratory at Columbia University, where he focused on neuropharmacology and receptor function. During this time he developed novel expression cloning methods that enabled him to identify genes that code for members of the serotonin receptor family. In 1989 he joined the UCSF.

A main focus of his work was the identification and understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in our sense of touch and pain. His group has used the properties of natural products to discover a family of temperature-sensitive ion channel receptors that enable sensory nerve fibers to detect hot or cold temperatures.

The same channels, known as TRP channels (pronounced “trip”), also respond to chemical stimuli that induce heat or cold sensations. The TRPV1 receptor, for example, responds either to warm temperatures or to capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their “heat”. Likewise, the TRPM8 receptor reacts either to cool temperatures or to menthol. TRP receptors are of great clinical interest because they are abundantly expressed in pain pathways, and drug companies are working to find TRP-related compounds that can provide pain control without the side effects or addictive potential of opioid drugs.

In 2013, Julius and UCSF colleague Yifan Cheng, PhD, used electron microscopy to determine the structure of the TRPV1 receptor with near atomic resolution. In 2015, Julius and Cheng used the same techniques to determine the structure of TRPA1, the so-called “wasabi receptor”.

Julius is married to Holly Ingraham, PhD, Professor of Physiology at UCSF. Their son is Philip Julius.

Julius is a member of the Board of Directors of the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Pew Scholars Program in Biomedical Sciences. He was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is entirely focused on health sciences and is dedicated to advancing health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. UCSF Health, which serves as the UCSF’s primary academic medical center, includes high-level specialty hospitals and other clinical programs and is affiliated across the Bay Area.

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