UW Institute for Protein Design releases RFD4-Proteina, its first AI model co-developed with Nvidia

Open-source tool promises faster, more efficient design of proteins for medicine, sustainability and materials

By LineZotpaper

Published21 October 2026

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The UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design (IPD) has released RFD4-Proteina, an open-source AI model for creating proteins with specific functions. It is the first model the University of Washington has co-developed with semiconductor company Nvidia, and arrives shortly after the institute received a large grant of computing power from the foundation of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and his wife Lori Huang.

The UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design (IPD) today released RFD4-Proteina, a new open-source AI model designed to create proteins with specific functions. It is the first AI protein model the University of Washington has co-developed with Nvidia, and follows a major computational boost for the institute.

Earlier this month, IPD announced a substantial grant of computing power from the foundation of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and his wife, Lori Huang. The institute began accessing Nvidia GPUs through cloud provider CoreWeave in June, a grant expected to support its work for a year.

David Baker, director of IPD and a 2024 Nobel laureate in chemistry, said in a statement: “RFD4-Proteina will open the door to new solutions in medicine, sustainability, materials and biotechnology.” He previously told GeekWire that the foundation’s grant has been “transformational” for the institute’s work.

The model’s name nods to IPD’s earlier RFdiffusion tool and references Nvidia’s Proteina-Complexa computational models. According to the team, RFD4-Proteina is “a considerable improvement over previous methods,” running faster and requiring significantly less computational power. It enables researchers to design previously unimaginable proteins, with potential applications as drugs for challenging diseases or as tools for managing environmental waste such as toxic chemicals and plastics.

Seth Woodbury, a UW bioengineering predoctoral candidate who used RFD4-Proteina in his enzyme research, said: “In just a few days we designed a pesticide-degrading enzyme that performs many fold better than my previous best, which took months to design.” Woodbury published a paper in Nature on enzyme research last year.

The work was led by UW doctoral students Nathaniel Corley, Maxwell Kazman and Rafi Brent, along with Kieran Didi, a visiting student from the University of Oxford. RFD4-Proteina is available through Berkeley Software Distribution.

Analysis

Why This Matters

The model could significantly accelerate the design of proteins for medical, environmental and industrial uses, reducing design time from months to days.
The collaboration with Nvidia and the large GPU grant signal growing corporate investment in AI-driven biotechnology.
Open-source availability may democratize protein design, enabling smaller labs and startups to contribute and apply the tool.

Background

The UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design is a leading research center founded by David Baker, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. IPD has developed several influential deep-learning tools for protein science, including RoseTTAFold for structure prediction and RFdiffusion for protein design. RFD4-Proteina integrates these advances with Nvidia’s computational models and is the first such model jointly developed with the company. The institute has spawned 11 spinout companies, including vaccine developer Icosavax and protein-design startup Archon Biosciences.

Key Perspectives

David Baker, IPD director: Emphasizes the model’s potential across multiple fields including medicine, sustainability and materials science, and described the Nvidia foundation’s support as transformative. Seth Woodbury, UW researcher: Reports a dramatic improvement in speed and performance for designing a pesticide-degrading enzyme, suggesting practical environmental applications. Nvidia: Through its hardware and model contributions, positions itself as a key enabler of AI for scientific discovery, though the company has not commented specifically on this release.

What to Watch

How quickly the open-source community adopts RFD4-Proteina and what new protein designs emerge.
Follow-on publications or patent filings that demonstrate real-world use, particularly in drug development or bioremediation.
Whether the one-year GPU grant leads to a longer-term partnership between Nvidia and IPD.

Sources

UW protein institute led by Nobel winner unveils its first AI model co-developed with Nvidia · GeekWire

Checked

12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 10 supported.

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Partly supportedThe headline calls RFD4-Proteina the UW Institute for Protein Design’s first AI model co-developed with Nvidia.GeekWire: “It is the first AI protein model the University of Washington has co-developed with semiconductor giant Nvidia.”
SupportedThe UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design released RFD4-Proteina as an open-source model for creating proteins with specific functions.GeekWire: “The UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design (IPD) today released a new open-source model for creating proteins with specific functions, called RFD4-Proteina.”
SupportedRFD4-Proteina was the first AI protein model the University of Washington co-developed with Nvidia.GeekWire: “It is the first AI protein model the University of Washington has co-developed with semiconductor giant Nvidia.”
SupportedIPD received a large grant of computing power from Jensen and Lori Huang through their foundation.GeekWire: “Earlier this month, IPD announced it had received a large grant of computing power from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and his wife, Lori Huang, through their foundation.”
SupportedIPD began accessing Nvidia GPUs through CoreWeave in June, and the grant is expected to support the institute for a year.GeekWire: “In June, the institute began accessing Nvidia graphics processing units, or GPUs, through cloud company CoreWeave. The grant is expected to support the institute for a year.”
SupportedDavid Baker said RFD4-Proteina would open the door to new solutions in medicine, sustainability, materials and biotechnology.GeekWire: ““RFD4-Proteina will open the door to new solutions in medicine, sustainability, materials and biotechnology,” David Baker, director of IPD and a 2024 Nobel laureate in chemistry, said in a statement.”
SupportedBaker previously described the foundation’s grant as “transformational” for the institute’s work.GeekWire: “He earlier told GeekWire that the foundation’s grant has been “transformational” for the institute’s work.”
SupportedThe team described RFD4-Proteina as “a considerable improvement over previous methods,” saying it is faster and requires significantly less computational power.GeekWire: “The team is touting RFD4-Proteina as “a considerable improvement over previous methods” that is faster and requires significantly less computational power.”
Partly supportedRFD4-Proteina enables researchers to design previously unimaginable proteins, with potential uses as drugs and tools for managing environmental waste.GeekWire: “The models have allowed researchers to design proteins never imagined before, with potential as drugs for challenging diseases or as tools for managing environmental waste such as toxic chemicals and plastics, among other applications.”
SupportedWoodbury said, “In just a few days we designed a pesticide-degrading enzyme that performs many fold better than my previous best, which took months to design.”GeekWire: ““In just a few days we designed a pesticide-degrading enzyme that performs many fold better than my previous best, which took months to design,” he said.”
SupportedThe RFD4-Proteina work was led by UW doctoral students Nathaniel Corley, Maxwell Kazman and Rafi Brent, and visiting University of Oxford student Kieran Didi.GeekWire: “At IPD, the RFD4-Proteina work was led by UW doctoral students Nathaniel Corley, Maxwell Kazman and Rafi Brent, along with Kieran Didi, a visiting student from the University of Oxford.”
SupportedRFD4-Proteina is available through Berkeley Software Distribution.GeekWire: “RFD4-Proteina is available through Berkeley Software Distribution.”