Michael Levitt is a Nobel Prize-winning biophysicist who has conducted pioneering work on the molecular structure of essential biological compounds. He has made many significant contributions to the study of protein folding and helped to popularise the use of computer modelling in biology.

Amongst the foremost of Michael’s numerous scientific achievements is his development of the first computerised model of an enzyme reaction, which was subsequently expanded to simulate more generalised protein dynamics. He has also carried out important research on the modelling of antibodies as well as DNA and messenger RNA — work that has informed practical advances in biomedical science.

Michael has received many honours and awards for his research, including the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 2014 DeLano Award for Computational Biosciences. A member of the US National Academy of Sciences, since 1987 he has been a Professor of Structural Biology at Stanford University.