Personal Statement:

I am a Molecular Biophysicist with a research focus on G protein-coupled receptors. My pioneering research work includes quantitatively profiling the conformational landscape of the GPCR using 19F-qNMR, determining GPCR activation in the conformational selection model, and proposing biased drug design based on 19F-qNMR-deciphered conformational states, etc. Recently, my research also led to the structural elucidation of the first intermediate GPCR-G protein complex in the field, guided by 19F-qNMR-guided cryo-EM. More importantly, by creating conformation-biased (-trapped) mutants guided by a conformational landscape visualized by 19F-qNMR, my research enabled the study of the functions of individual conformational states, especially intermediate states/complexes, to better design a drug with an exclusive output of signaling efficacy or bias. This advance opens a new field for designing drugs that target a particular disease-related receptor conformational state, rather than the entire protein, by elucidating the roles of each conformational state in signal transduction. ​In addition, my research develops platforms that facilitate drug discovery, including a high-throughput NMR approach to probe in-membrane ligand-receptor interactions and a CRISPR/Cas9-based high-throughput drug-screening system.  ​​Most recently, I became fascinated with AI-based protein engineering, combined with research tools in our lab, to trap the enzymatic protein in a high-catalytic-transient state. 

​

My future research aims to (1) continually develop Bio-NMR techniques to investigate underexplored GPCR conformations and their roles in disease signaling; (2) improve drug discovery platforms to enable more effective drug development; (3) examine dinoflagellate GPCRs in relation to public health concerns associated with Red Tide Blooms along the coast; and (4) build tools for protein engineering by combining our expertise with AI.

​

Research Interests:

GPCR Pharmacology, NMR, Conformational Transitions and Dynamics, Drug Discovery, Signal Transduction, Bioengineering, and Chemical Biology

 

Brief Experience:

Visisting Associate Professor      Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA, USA, 2026—

Associate Professor                      Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA, 2024—

Affiliate Member                            H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Tampa, FL,  USA, 2019—

Assistant Professor                       Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA, 2018—2024

Postdoctoral Fellow                     Department of Chemistry and Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, ON, 

                                                         Canada, 2013—2018 

Postdoctoral Fellow                     Department of Structural Biology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, PA, USA, 2012—2013

Postdoctoral Fellow                     Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and Energy Biosciences Institute, UIUC, IL, USA,

                                                         2011—2012

Postdoctoral Fellow                     Center for Infectious Diseases and Travel Medicine and Center for Chronic Immunodeficiency,

                                                         University Medical Center Freiburg, University of Freiburg, Württemberg, Germany, 2010-2011

Ph.D.                                                Department of Microbiology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China,  2004—2008

​​

Course Teaching:

1. Molecular Biology of the Gene (4000-level undergraduates and 6000-level graduates)

2. General Microbiology (3000-level undergraduates)

3. GPCR Drug Discovery (4000-level undergraduates and 6000-level graduates)

​

Outreach: 

Consultant Faculty           Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN, USA, 2024—

Advisor                               ASBMB chapter at University of South Florida, 2023—

​

Academic Memberships:

1. CCSG (H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center)

2. American Association for The Advancement of Science (AAAS)

3. Biophysical Society

4. American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

​

Technology Transfer:

   1. Corona Discharge Based Treatments of Articles. Inventors: Libin Ye and Ying Zhong. (learn more)

   2. Controlling Bioluminescence in Red Tide Algae. Inventors: Aidan McFarland and Libin Ye. (learn more)

​

Representative Publications:

1. Maxine Bi, Xudong Wang, Jinan Wang, Jun Xu, Wenkai Sun, Victor Ayo Adediwura, Yinglong Miao*, Yifan Cheng*, and Libin Ye*. Structure and function of an intermediate GPCR-G protein complex. Nature Communications, 2025, 1100

2. Xudong Wang, Chris Neale, Soo-Kyung Kim, William A. Goddard, Libin Ye*. Intermediate-state-trapped mutants pinpoint sequential activation process of G protein-coupled receptor. Nature Communications, 2023, 14(1):1325

3. Xudong Wang, Aidan McFarland, Jesper J. Madsen, Eric Aalo, Libin Ye*. The potential of 19F NMR application in GPCR biased drug discovery. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, 2021, 42(1):19-30. 

4. Libin Ye, Chris Neale, Adnan Sljoka, Dmitry Pichugin, Nobuyuki Tsuchimura, Sacha T. Larda, Eps van Ned, Regis Pomes, Angel E. Garcia, Roger Sunahara, Oliver P. Ernst, R. Scott Prosser. Bidirectional allosteric modulation of the A2A adenosine G protein-coupled receptor by physiological cations. Nature Communications, 2018, 9(1):1372 

5. Libin Ye, Ned Van Eps, Marco Zimmer, Oliver P. Ernst, R. Scott Prosser. Activation of A2A adenosine G protein-coupled receptor by conformational selection. Nature, 2016, 533: 265–268. (F1000Prime recommended)