Faculty Profiles

Colleges and Departments

Dr. Steven T Whitten

  • Associate Professor - Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • Associate Professor - South Texas Doctoral Bridge Program
Portrait of Dr. Steven T Whitten

Biography and education

Ph.D. in biophysics, Johns Hopkins University, 2000.
B.S. in physics, University of Nebraska, Omaha, 1994.
  • Lewis, Karen A, Whitten, Steven T (Co-Principal), Hough, Loren (Co-Principal), Hodby, Eleanor (Co-Principal), Theodoropoulou, Nikoleta (Supporting), Close, Eleanor W (Supporting), Rangelov, Blagoy (Supporting), Islam, Tanzima Z (Supporting), Betancourt, Tania (Supporting), Berry, Joe (Supporting), Finklestein, Noah (Supporting), MacGregor, Meredith (Supporting), Brown, Jed (Supporting), Eaves, Joel (Supporting). Creating Equitable Pathways to STEM Graduate Education, Sloan Foundation, Private / Foundation / Corporate, $249299. (Submitted: September 2, 2022, Funded: January 2023 - Present). Grant.
  • Lewis, Karen A (Principal), Kerwin, Sean Michael (Co-Principal), Whitten, Steven T (Co-Principal), Kornienko, Alexander Vladimir (Supporting), Peterson, Ryan Loren (Supporting), Xue, Xiaoyu (Supporting). MRI: Acquisition of Automated Isothermal Titration Calorimeter for Biophysical Research at Texas State University, National Science Foundation, Federal, $262280. (Submitted: January 19, 2022, Funded: September 1, 2022 - August 31, 2025). Grant.
  • Kerwin, Sean M (Principal), Whitten, Steven T (Co-Principal), Betancourt, Tania (Co-Principal), Lewis, Karen A (Co-Principal). Circular Dichroism Spectrometer, National Institutes of Health, Federal, $209852. (Submitted: May 31, 2024, Funded: August 1, 2025 - July 31, 2026). Grant.
  • Lewis, Karen A (Principal), Whitten, Steven T (Co-Principal), Betancourt, Tania (Co-Principal), Stachowiak, Jeanne (Co-Principal), Deb, Seemanta. Hydrogel formation by the N-terminal domains of the Eyes Absent Proteins 1 and 2, PREM CIMA and National Science Foundation, Federal. (Submitted: November 2024, Funded: January 2025 - Present). Grant.
  • Whitten, Steven T (Principal), Lewis, Karen A (Co-Principal), Libich, David S (Co-Principal), Oyajobi, Babatunde Olukayode (Co-Principal). Texas Doctoral Bridge Program, NIH, Federal, $2761618. (Submitted: September 26, 2023, Funded: August 1, 2024 - July 31, 2029). Grant.
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  • Kipp, O. L., Lewis, K. A., Hough, L. E., & Whitten, S. T. (2025). Missense mutations in intrinsically disordered protein regions link pathogenicity and phase separation. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 301(11), 110773. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2025.110773
  • Wilson, C., Lewis, K. A., Fitzkee, N. C., Hough, L. E., & Whitten, S. T. (2023). ParSe 2.0: A web tool to identify drivers of protein phase separation at the proteome level. Protein Science, 32(9). https://doi.org/doi: 10.1002/pro.4756
  • Yarawsky, A. E., Ori, A. L., English, L. R., Whitten, S. T., & Herr, A. B. (2023). Convergent behavior of extended stalk regions from staphylococcal surface proteins with widely divergent sequence patterns. Protein Science, 32(8). https://doi.org/10.1002/pro.4707
  • Ibrahim, A. Y., Khaodeuanepheng, N. P., Amarasekara, D. L., Correia, J. J., Lewis, K. A., Fitzkee, N. C., … Whitten, S. T. (2023). Intrinsically disordered regions that drive phase separation form a robustly distinct protein class. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 299(1), 102801. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102801
  • Paiz, E. A., Correia, J. J., Fitzkee, N. C., Hough, L. E., & Whitten, S. T. (2021). Beta turn propensity and a model polymer scaling exponent identify intrinsically disordered phase-separating proteins. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 297(5). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2021.101343
View all scholarly/creative works
  • Award / Honor Recipient: CoSE 2025 Research Grant Millionaire Award, College of Science and Engineering, Texas State University. October 2025 - 2025
  • Award / Honor Recipient: THRC Faculty Fellow for Health and Economic Resilience Research, Translational Health Research Center. August 1, 2024 - July 31, 2025
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Texas State Tansfer Champion Honorable Mention, Texas State University. October 2022
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Distinction Award for Excellence in Teaching, Texas State University, College of Science and Engineering. 2020
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Secretary-Treasurer, Intrinsically Disordered Protein (IDP) Subgroup of the Biophysical Society. March 2019 - March 2020
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  1. Editorial Review Board Member

    Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, Molecular Biophysics

  2. Editorial Review Board Member

    Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, Molecular Recognition

  3. Other

    Biochemistry MS Degree Program

  4. Chair

    Graduate Biochemistry Curriculum Committee

  5. Member

    Personnel Committee, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

  6. Other

    Biochemistry BS Degree Outcomes and Assessment

  7. View all activities