ONHS Report: DARPA-SN-27-01

Protein Palace Proposers Day

Solicitation ID: DARPA-SN-27-01

Agency: DARPA/MXO

Type: Special Notice

Deadline: 2026-11-09T16:00:00 ET

Eligibility: Maybe (Topic Dependent)

Funding: N/A

Doc Type: PS

Clearance: No

Program Manager: Dr. Huanan Zhang

Last Updated: 2026-10-23 16:03

Analyzed File: DARPA-SN-27-01.pdf (with DARPA-SN-27-01-Amendment-01.pdf)

Eligibility Reasoning

This Special Notice is issued solely for information and program planning purposes and does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals... Attendance is strictly voluntary and is not required to propose to subsequent Announcements (if any) or Solicitations (if any) on this topic.

Note: This is an AI-generated summary...

Summary

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Protein Palace program aims to develop a universal and generalizable platform for the rapid purification of virtually any protein with high specificity, purity, and yield. This initiative seeks to overcome the limitations of current state-of-the-art methods, which are slow, expensive, and rely on a rigid "one protein, one ligand" paradigm. The program will fund the development of novel, tunable systems that leverage dynamic chemical and physical approaches to probe subtle physicochemical variations between proteins, moving beyond fixed lock-and-key mechanisms. The program consists of two phases: a 24-month Phase 1 focused on demonstrating specificity and generalizability by purifying eight different proteins at a small scale, and an 18-month Phase 2 focused on scalability, throughput, and successfully purifying two proteins that are inseparable using current methods. This notice announces a Proposers Day to introduce the program and encourage teaming.

Overall Technical Areas

Protein Purification TechnologiesDynamic Chemical SeparationDynamic Physical SeparationPhysicochemical Protein AnalysisTunable Molecular SeparationGeneralizable Purification PlatformsBiomanufacturing Process DevelopmentHigh-Throughput PurificationProcess Scalability EngineeringBioactivity Preservation MethodsBiochemical Purification DesignBiomacromolecule Production

Probable LBNL Areas

BSAEESAESAETAPSA

Focus Areas

Example Priorities:

break the traditional tradeoff between generalizability and specificity by leveraging dynamic chemical and physical approaches that probe the physicochemical variations of a protein
solve the challenge of purifying multiple proteins from a single tunable system while achieving high purity and yield
The Protein Palace program is interested in novel approaches to separate proteins, beyond fixed lock-and-key and non-specific physiochemical methods, that target the unique physicochemical characteristics of a protein
Phase 1: Specificity and generalizability. Prove the feasibility to control tunability and specificity to different types of proteins.

Specific Technical Skills:

Protein ChemistryBiophysicsMolecular SeparationSurface ChemistryAffinity ChromatographyMaterial ScienceFluidicsDynamic SystemsAnalytical ChemistryDownstream Processing

Potential PIs for this Area:

Name	Score	Organization
Kristin Persson	0.78	ESA \| MSD \| Material Physics · Material Science
Piotr Zarzycki	0.76	EESA \| EG \| Geochemistry Dept · Surface Chemistry
Jose Chirinos	0.76	ETA \| Energy Technologies and Systems \| Energy Storage & Dist Dpt · Analytical Chemistry
Joelle Frechette	0.75	ETA \| Energy Technologies and Systems \| Energy Storage & Dist Dpt · Fluidics
Hiroki Makita	0.75	BSA \| Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging \| Bioenergetics Dept · Biophysics
Ramkrishna Singh	0.75	BSA \| Biological Systems & Engineering \| Process Engr & Analytics · Downstream Processing
Carlos Bustamante	0.75	BSA \| Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging \| Bioenergetics Dept · Molecular Separation
Susan Marqusee	0.74	BSA \| Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging \| Structural Biology Dept · Protein Chemistry
Alexandre Bayen	0.74	ETA \| Energy Analysis \| Systems & Energy Tech Analysis · Dynamic Systems
Line Kristensen	0.74	BSA \| Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging \| Structural Biology Dept · Affinity Chromatography

Example Priorities:

enable the rapid purification of virtually any protein with high specificity, purity, and yield
The program addresses the technical challenge of specific separation of a target protein at high purity by a method that can be tuned to purify any other protein.
In Phase 1, performers will demonstrate a purification platform and process capable of separating eight different proteins to demonstrate simultaneous specificity and generalizability at small scale.
purify two proteins that cannot be separated using the SoA methods.

Specific Technical Skills:

Protein EngineeringBiochemistryHigh-Purity SeparationProcess ControlMolecular RecognitionAssay DevelopmentQuality Control (QC)Bioactivity AssaysStructural BiologyFeedstock Analysis

Potential PIs for this Area:

Name	Score	Organization
Andy DeGiovanni	0.78	BSA \| Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging \| Structural Biology Dept · Structural Biology
Susan Marqusee	0.77	BSA \| Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging \| Structural Biology Dept · Structural Biology
Nawa Raj Baral	0.77	BSA \| Biological Systems & Engineering \| Process Engr & Analytics · Feedstock Analysis
Banumathi Sankaran	0.76	BSA \| Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging \| Structural Biology Dept · Protein Engineering
Hans Carlson	0.75	BSA \| Env. Genomics & Sys. Biology \| Comparative and Funct Genomics · Biochemistry
Kameshwar Poolla	0.75	ETA \| Energy Technologies and Systems \| Energy Storage & Dist Dpt · Process Control
Piotr Zarzycki	0.74	EESA \| EG \| Geochemistry Dept · Molecular Recognition
Seth Carbon	0.73	BSA \| Env. Genomics & Sys. Biology \| BioSystems Data Science · Quality Control (QC)
Natalia Molchanova	0.73	ESA \| MF \| MF Biological Facility · Bioactivity Assays
Wenming Dong	0.73	EESA \| EG \| Geochemistry Dept · High-Purity Separation

Example Priorities:

Phase 2: Scalability and throughput. Prove the scalability for high throughput and diverse proteins.
In Phase 2, performers will be required to scale their process to yield relevant quantities of target proteins
In Phase 2, performers will develop and deliver a scaled-up purification platform capable of increased purity, yield, volume, and throughput.
By establishing a universal, generalizable protein purification platform, Protein Palace could accelerate the production, scale-up, and accessibility of mission-critical and high-value biomacromolecules

Specific Technical Skills:

Bioprocess EngineeringScale-Up ModelingHigh-Throughput Screening (HTS)BiomanufacturingProcess AutomationDownstream Process DevelopmentProcess Analytical Technology (PAT)Platform Technology DevelopmentSystem IntegrationTechno-economic Analysis

Potential PIs for this Area:

Name	Score	Organization
Minliang Yang	0.78	ETA \| Energy Analysis \| Systems & Energy Tech Analysis · Techno-economic Analysis
Eric Masanet	0.77	ETA \| Energy Analysis \| Systems & Energy Tech Analysis · Platform Technology Development
Carolina Araujo Barcelos	0.77	BSA \| Biological Systems & Engineering \| Process Engr & Analytics · Bioprocess Engineering
Nawa Raj Baral	0.76	BSA \| Biological Systems & Engineering \| Process Engr & Analytics · Downstream Process Development
Jacob Hilzinger	0.76	BSA \| Env. Genomics & Sys. Biology \| Molecular Ecosystems Bio · Biomanufacturing
Amy Herr	0.74	BSA \| Biological Systems & Engineering \| Process Engr & Analytics · Process Analytical Technology (PAT)
Chang Dou	0.74	BSA \| Biological Systems & Engineering \| Process Engr & Analytics · Scale-Up Modeling
Han Lee	0.74	PSA \| Engineering \| Electronic Engineering · System Integration
Zachary Jones	0.73	BSA \| Biological Systems & Engineering \| Process Engr & Analytics · Process Automation
David Carruthers	0.73	BSA \| Biological Systems & Engineering \| Biodesign Dept · High-Throughput Screening (HTS)

Potential LBNL PIs (Overall)

Note on PI Matching: These suggestions are generated through an AI-driven semantic analysis of LBNL staff profiles.

Name	Score	Organization
Line Kristensen	0.76	BSA \| Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging \| Structural Biology Dept · Physicochemical Protein Analysis
Corie Ralston	0.75	ESA \| MF \| MF Biological Facility · Protein Purification Technologies
Wenming Dong	0.75	EESA \| EG \| Geochemistry Dept · Dynamic Chemical Separation
Yan Chen	0.75	BSA \| Biological Systems & Engineering \| Process Engr & Analytics · Biochemical Purification Design
Jacob Hilzinger	0.75	BSA \| Env. Genomics & Sys. Biology \| Molecular Ecosystems Bio · Biomanufacturing Process Development
Joelle Frechette	0.74	ETA \| Energy Technologies and Systems \| Energy Storage & Dist Dpt · Dynamic Physical Separation
Amy Herr	0.74	BSA \| Biological Systems & Engineering \| Process Engr & Analytics · Process Scalability Engineering
Tyler Backman	0.74	BSA \| Biological Systems & Engineering \| Process Engr & Analytics · Biomacromolecule Production
Shaowei Li	0.74	ESA \| MSD \| Material Physics · Tunable Molecular Separation
Michelle O'Malley	0.72	BSA \| Biological Systems & Engineering \| Biodesign Dept · Bioactivity Preservation Methods

Fundamental Research Exemption (FRE)

Not Mentioned