Mark Distefano

Mark D. Distefano is the Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Distinguished University Teaching Professor of Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. He earned a B.A. in Biochemistry and Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984, a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1989, and completed postdoctoral training in Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology from 1989 to 1992. Distefano joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota in 1992 as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry, advanced to Associate Professor in 1998, and was promoted to Professor in 2009. He served as Director of Graduate Studies in Chemistry from 2003 to 2006 and maintains memberships in the University of Minnesota Biotechnology Institute since 2005, Cancer Center since 1995, Medicinal Chemistry Graduate Program since 2006, and Microbial Biotechnology Graduate Program since 2005. He has also held visiting scientist positions at Harvard Medical School and Genentech Corporation.

Distefano's research in chemical biology and organic chemistry focuses on molecular recognition and catalysis in proteins, particularly protein prenylation, a post-translational modification essential for cellular signaling pathways. His laboratory investigates mechanisms in rubber biosynthesis, illudin biosynthesis, protein-based catalyst design for sustainable chemical synthesis, and strategies for selective protein modification to develop therapeutic agents, including light-activatable inhibitors targeting cancer cells. Employing organic synthesis, protein purification, enzymology, and biophysical techniques, his group advances tools for proteomics and precise biomedical applications. Among his honors are election as an American Chemical Society Fellow in 2014, Merck Professor of Chemistry and Distinguished McKnight University Professor in 2011, Horace T. Morse-University of Minnesota Distinguished Teaching Professor in 2006, Lloyd Reyerson Professorship in 2016, University of Minnesota Outstanding Service Award in 2023, NSF CAREER Award in 1994, American Cancer Society Junior Faculty Research Award in 1994, and 3M Alumni Assistant Professor Award in 1992. Key publications include "Organotellurium Probes Enable One-step Single-cell Analysis of Post-translational Modification" (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2026), "In Vivo Metabolic Labeling with an Isoprenoid Probe Reveals APOE Allele-specific Differences in the Prenylome" (ACS Chem. Biol., 2025), "Engineering protein prenylation: an emerging tool for selective protein modification" (Biochem. Soc. Trans., 2025), and "An alkyne-containing isoprenoid analogue based on a farnesyl diphosphate scaffold is a biologically functional universal probe for proteomic analysis" (Biochemistry, 2025).

Professional Email: mark@umn.edu