James H. Hurley

James Hurley is the Kirsch Springer Chair in Biological Sciences and professor of cell biology, development and physiology at University of California, Berkeley. He explores the interactions between proteins and membranes that determine cell and organelle shape and the evolution of shape over time.

One of Hurley’s primary interests is how pathogens, such as HIV, subvert and co-opt these interactions. His investigations have led to breakthroughs in understanding of how HIV exploits the membranes of infected cells and have shed light on the mechanisms of autophagy, a natural self-destruction process present in all eukaryotic cells that helps prevent disease. Hurley’s lab uses X-ray crystallography, frequently performed at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source, and other analytical techniques to reveal the structures of membrane-interacting proteins and examine protein-protein and protein-lipid interactions at the atomic level.