Education: ^top

Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware, 2003
B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Maine, 1998

Research Interests: ^top

The Tessier lab aims to develop next generation technologies for designing, discovering, engineering, characterizing, formulating and delivering biologics ranging from small affinity peptides to large monoclonal antibodies for molecular imaging, diagnostic and therapeutic applications. This interdisciplinary research program involves the use of experimental and computational approaches to generate new fundamental insights related to protein structure and function, molecular origins of protein-protein interactions, and sequence and structural determinants of key protein properties (stability, solubility, specificity and affinity). With an eye toward applications, the Tessier lab also develops novel high-throughput screening tools for discovering new biologics and identifying rare variants with drug-like properties for therapeutic applications.

Biography: ^top

Professional Experience

Albert M. Mattocks (Endowed) Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemical Engineering
Departments of Chemical Engineering and Pharmaceutical Sciences (equal appointments) and Biointerfaces Institute
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 2017-present

Richard Baruch M.D. Career Development (Endowed) Professor 
Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, 2016-2017

Richard Baruch M.D. Career Development (Endowed) Associate Professor
Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, 2014-2016

Alexander von Humboldt Fellow
Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry
Martinsried, Germany, 2014-2015

Associate Professor 
Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, 2013-2016

Assistant Professor 
Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, 2007-2013

American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research (MIT), Cambridge, MA, 2003-2007
Advisor: Susan Lindquist

Awards: ^top

Academic Honors

Young Investigator Award, Biochemical Engineering Journal, 2016

Young Investigator Award, Division of Biochemical Technology, American Chemical Society, 2015

Young Scientist Award, World Economic Forum (Tianjin, China), 2014

Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers, 2014-2015

National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2010-2015

Pew Scholar Award in Biomedical Sciences,  2010-2014

Rensselaer Dept. of Chemical & Biological Engineering Teaching Award, 2014

Rensselaer School of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award, 2013

Rensselaer Early Career Award, 2012

Rensselaer School of Engineering Research Excellence Award, 2012

Allan P. Colburn Lectureship, Univ. of Delaware, 2012

American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2004-2007

NASA Graduate Fellowship, 1999-2002

Co-Valedictorian, Univ. of Maine, 1998

For a more complete list of Professor Tessier’s honors and awards and for additional information, please see his CV.

Publications: ^top

Select Journal Publications

Tiller, K.E., Li, L., Kumar, S., Julian, M.C., Garde, S., Tessier, P.M., “Arginine mutations in antibody complementarity-determining regions display context-dependent affinity/specificity trade-offs”, J Biol Chem, ePub Aug 4 (2017).

Tiller, K.E., Chowdhury, R., Li, T., Ludwig, S., Sen, S., Maranas, C., Tessier, P.M., “Facile affinity maturation of antibody variable domains using natural diversity mutagenesis”, Front Immunol, 4, 986 (2017).

Julian, M.C., Li, L., Garde, S., Wilen, R., Tessier, P.M., “Efficient affinity maturation of antibody variable domains requires co-selection of compensatory mutations to maintain thermodynamic stability”, Sci Rep, 7, 45259 (2017).

Geng, S.B., Wu, J., Schultz, J.S., Dickinson, C.D., Seminar, C.R., Alam, M.E., Tessier, P.M., “Facile preparation of stable antibody-gold conjugates and application to affinity-capture self-interaction nanoparticle spectroscopy”, Bioconjug Chem, 27, 2287 (2016).

Lee, C.C., Julian, M.C., Tiller, K.E., Meng, F., DuConge, S.E., Akter, R., Raleigh, D.P., Tessier, P.M., “Design and optimization of anti-amyloid domain antibodies specific for Aβ and IAPP”, J Biol Chem, 291, 2858 (2016).

Tiller, K.E., Tessier, P.M., “Advances in antibody design”, Ann Rev Biomed Eng, 17, 191 (2015).

Julian, M.C., Lee, C.L, Tiller, K.E., Rabia, L.A., Day, E.K., Schick III, A.J., Peter M. Tessier, “Co-evolution of affinity and stability of grafted amyloid-motif domain antibodies”, Protein Eng Des Sel, 28, 339 (2015).

Wu, J, Schultz, J.S., Weldon, C.L., Sule, S.V., Chai, Q., Dickinson, C.D., Tessier, P.M., “Discovery of highly soluble antibodies prior to purification using affinity-capture self-interaction nanoparticle spectroscopy”, Protein Eng Des Sel, 28, 493 (2015).

Li, X., Geng, S.B., Chiu, M.L., Saro, D., Tessier, P.M., “High-throughput assay for measuring monoclonal antibody self-association and aggregation in serum”, Bioconjug Chem, 26, 520 (2015).

Perchiacca, J.M., Lee, C.C, Tessier, P.M., “Optimal charged mutations in the complementarity-determining regions that prevent domain antibody aggregation are dependent on the antibody scaffold”, Protein Eng Des Sel, 27, 29 (2014).

Sule, S.V., Dickinson, C.G., Lu, J., Chow, C.-K., Tessier, P.M., “Rapid analysis of antibody self-association in complex mixtures using immunogold conjugates”, Mol Pharm, 10, 1322 (2013).

Perchiacca, J.M., Ladiwala, A.R.A., Bhattacharya, M., Tessier, P.M., “Aggregation-resistant domain antibodies engineered with charged mutations near the edges of the complementarity-determining regions”, Protein Eng Des Sel, 12, 591 (2012).

Ladiwala, A.R, Litt, J., Kane, R.S., Aucoin, D.S., Smith, S.O., Ranjan, S, Davis, J., Van Nostrand, W.E., Tessier, P.M., “Conformational differences between two amyloid β oligomers of similar size and dissimilar toxicity”, J Biol Chem, 287, 24765 (2012).

Perchiacca, J.M., Tessier, P.M., “Engineering aggregation-resistant antibodies”, Ann Rev Chem Biomol Eng, 3, 263 (2012).

Perchiacca, J.P., Ladiwala, A.R.A, Bhattacharya, M.B., Tessier, P.M., “Structure-based design of conformation- and sequence-specific antibodies against amyloid β”, P Natl Acad Sci U S A, 109, 84 (2012).

Perchiacca, J.M., Bhattacharya, M., Tessier, P.M., “Mutational analysis of domain antibodies reveals aggregation hotspots within and near the complementarity determining regions”, Proteins, 79, 2637 (2011).