Our research focuses on the fundamentals and application of nanoscale protein materials to solve problems in biological systems at the nanoscale. Proteins are biological polymers that fold and assemble into sophisticated nanoscale structures. Harnessing protein folding and interactions for nanotechnology is a promising ‘bottom-up’ approach to engineering novel materials with unprecedented functions and properties. We study the fundamentals in genetic sequence, folding, and interactions of protein building blocks, and exploit our understanding for the design of protein nanomaterials. Using proteins as primary building blocks, we investigate the genetic programming of novel functionalities within protein nanomaterials for applications in healthcare, manufacturing, neuroscience, agriculture, and environmental technologies.