Keriann M. Backus

Keriann M. Backus is a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research spans analytical, biochemistry, biophysics, chemical biology, organic chemistry, systems biology, and biological regulation. She is affiliated with the university's chemistry department and maintains a profile page at https://www.chemistry.ucla.edu/directory/backus-keriann-m/.

Keriann Backus is a researcher in Chemical Biology with a focus on proteomics, redox biology, and drug development. Her work involves the discovery of covalent ligands and the profiling of reactive cysteines and lysines in the human proteome. She has developed innovative chemoproteomic strategies to identify druggable targets in cancer and infectious diseases. Her research includes the study of microbiota-derived metabolites, small molecule–protein interactions, and the role of redox-sensitive cysteines in cellular processes. Backus has contributed to the development of tools such as CysDB and SP3-FAIMS for comprehensive cysteine profiling. Her work bridges chemical biology and systems biology to advance drug discovery and understand disease mechanisms.