Malin M. Young

Dr. Malin Young is the Associate Laboratory Director for Earth and Biological Sciences at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). In this role, she sets the vision and strategy for PNNL's research in support of DOE's Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) and National Institutes of Health. Dr. Young leads a research directorate of more than 530 staff members who have expertise in atmospheric, earth system, biological and environmental sciences. Her directorate also stewards two unique U.S. Department of Energy national scientific user facilities - the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) and the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility.

Dr. Young was PNNL’s Deputy Director for Science and Technology (DDST) from October 2015 to February 2020. As the DDST, she was responsible for integrating PNNL's science and technology capabilities to address critical challenges in science, energy, the environment, and national security. She also managed PNNL's institutional science and technology investments, strategic business capture, research partnerships, institutional planning and technology commercialization activities.

Prior to joining PNNL, Dr. Young served as Director of the Biological and Engineering Sciences Center at Sandia National Laboratories at the Livermore, California, campus. In that role, she was responsible for leading the performance of exploratory science and the development of technology to address pressing national needs in energy security, homeland security, and national defense.

Dr. Young joined Sandia in 1999, where she initiated a research program that applied new experimental and computational methods to solve the structures of proteins embedded in cell membranes. Since 2003, she managed multiple research organizations at Sandia, as well as managing bioenergy and national security programs funded by DOE's Office of Science, the National Nuclear Security Agency, the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense, and the National Institutes of Health. Her career included serving as Deputy to the Vice President of Sandia's California site, where she oversaw California operations and coordinated operations with Sandia's New Mexico site.

An expert in rational drug design, bioinformatics, mass-spectrometry data analysis, and protein-structure prediction and modeling, she has published more than 30 peer-reviewed papers and is an inventor on three patents. She is a AAAS Fellow and won the Frank P. Goyan Award for Excellence in Physical Chemistry from the University of California San Francisco.

A native of Washington State, Dr. Young earned a Bachelor's degree in Biology and a Master's degree in Genetics from Oregon State University and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of California, San Francisco.