Vineet Gupta studies the integrin family of cell-surface receptors and explores how these proteins can be targeted to develop novel therapeutics. His laboratory pioneered the development of allosteric agonists—molecules that bind to receptors and enhance their response to stimuli—as a therapeutic strategy for integrins and recently demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of this approach in human patients. To translate these discoveries into the clinic, Vineet has co-founded biotech startups. His group is currently studying allosteric integrin agonists as therapeutics for autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases. Vineet obtained a PhD in chemistry from the University of Rochester and conducted postdoctoral research at The Rockefeller University and at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He is currently professor and vice chair for innovation in the department of internal medicine at Rush University Medical Center, and he holds the Charles Weaver Endowed Chair for Cancer Research.