Insights from

Nobel Laureates, for scientists everywhere

Brian Kobilka

Brian Kobilka

Brian Kobilka, MD, is Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, and Hélène Irwin Fagan Chair in Cardiology, at Stanford University School of Medicine.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, in 1977. He graduated from Yale University School of Medicine in 1981, and completed residency training in Internal Medicine at the Barnes Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, in 1984. From 1984–1989, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Robert Lefkowitz at Duke University. In 1990 he joined the faculty of Medicine and Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University.

Research in the Kobilka lab focuses on the structure and mechanism of action of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which constitute the largest family of receptors for hormones and neurotransmitters in the human genome. GPCRs are the largest group of targets for new therapeutics for a very broad spectrum of diseases.

In 2012, Kobilka was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on GPCRs. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Nobel Prize Inspiration Initiative 2016 Highlights
Brian Kobilka, Harold Varmus and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi

Nobel Prize Inspiration Initiative 2016 Highlights

Nobel Prize Inspiration Initiative 2016 Short Highlights
Brian Kobilka, Harold Varmus, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Barry Marshall

Nobel Prize Inspiration Initiative 2016 Short Highlights

Nobel Prize Inspiration Initiative 2016 Long Highlights
Brian Kobilka, Harold Varmus, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Barry Marshall

Nobel Prize Inspiration Initiative 2016 Long Highlights

How confident should you be in your results before you publish?
Brian Kobilka

How confident should you be in your results before you publish?

Did you ever feel like quitting?
Brian Kobilka

Did you ever feel like quitting?

Is it possible to treat patients and do research?
Brian Kobilka

Is it possible to treat patients and do research?

How hard did you work as a post-doc?
Brian Kobilka

How hard did you work as a post-doc?

Did you face any obstacles at the start of your career?
Brian Kobilka

Did you face any obstacles at the start of your career?

What do you think of impact factors?
Brian Kobilka

What do you think of impact factors?

How did you select your research field?
Brian Kobilka

How did you select your research field?

Why did you set up your own company?
Brian Kobilka

Why did you set up your own company?

Have your broadened your research since the Nobel Prize?
Brian Kobilka

Have your broadened your research since the Nobel Prize?

What kind of person do you like to collaborate with?
Brian Kobilka

What kind of person do you like to collaborate with?

What excites you about doing science?
Brian Kobilka

What excites you about doing science?

Was your early work published in high impact-factor journals?
Brian Kobilka

Was your early work published in high impact-factor journals?