Abrams is a professor of chemical and biological engineering in the College of Engineering and also holds a courtesy appointment in the College of Medicine's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. His research focuses on molecular simulations; the structure and function of HIV; and receptors for insulin and growth factors.
He earned his doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of California - Berkeley and was a postdoctoral fellow at Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany. Abrams' research group is currently developing a molecular strategy for disarming HIV.