Deem began his academic career at the
University of California, Los Angeles in 1996, where he rose to the rank of associate professor of chemical engineering. From 2002 to 2020, he was the John W. Cox Professor of Biochemical and Genetic Engineering and professor of physics and astronomy at
Rice University in Houston, Texas. He served as the founding director of Rice’s graduate program in systems, synthetic, and physical biology (2012–2014) and as chair of the bioengineering department (2014–2017). He has been elected Fellow of the
American Physical Society, the
American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the
Biomedical Engineering Society. Deem has received several awards, including a
National Science Foundation CAREER Award (1997), recognition as a Top 100 Young Innovator by the
MIT Technology Review (1999), an
Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (2000), the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (2002), the Allan P. Colburn Award of the
American Institute of Chemical Engineers (2004), the Professional Progress Award of AIChE (2010), the Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award from the
TAMEST, a visiting scholar appointment with
Phi Beta Kappa (2012–2013), In November 2018,
Rice University announced a full investigation into Deem's involvement in the CRISPR'd baby project. He resigned from Rice University in 2020. From 2021 to 2022, Deem was an entrepreneur in residence at
Khosla Ventures, where he helped select, mentor, and incubate portfolio companies. From 2023, Deem was a managing partner with Angeliki Fund. == Selected publications ==