Alan Saghatelian attended UCLA from 1993-1997 and earned a B.S. degree in chemistry and then obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry from the Scripps Research Institute in 2002. Dr. Saghatelian remained at Scripps and worked with Professor Benjamin Cravatt for his postdoctoral research. Dr. Saghatelian developed lipidomics methods to profile cells and tissues. In 2006, Dr. Saghatelian began his independent career in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University. His research program at Harvard identified novel human peptides and small proteins (microproteins) encoded by small open reading frames (smORFs) and the discovery of structurally novel bioactive lipids. As his research became more focused on biology, Dr. Saghatelian decided to move to the Salk Institute to pursue emerging biological questions. At Salk, the Saghatelian lab has identified the enzymes responsible for novel lipid regulation and found thousands of new microproteins. Dr. Saghatelian is a recipient of the NIH New Innovator Award, a Searle Scholar Awardee, and a Sloan Foundation and AAAS Fellow.