Wes Sundquist
Samuels Distinguished Professor & Chair of Biochemistry | University of Utah Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine
Wes Sundquist leads a research lab at the University of Utah Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. He holds a bachelor’s in chemistry from Carleton College and a PhD in chemistry from MIT, with postdoctoral research experience at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. His research focuses on HIV assembly and replication, particularly the HIV budding process via the host cell’s ESCRT pathway. Wes’ lab determined the structure and function of the HIV capsid, contributing to Gilead Sciences’ development of lenacapavir, a drug that prevents HIV transmission. Named in the 2025 TIME100 list, he is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. Wes and his wife, Nola, have two adult children.
