Research
Full Listing of Departmental Faculty and Research Interests (sorted alphabetically)
Istvan Albert's Research Interest:
My research focuses on developing computational,
data-driven approaches that make biological
data easier to analyze, interpret, and communicate.
I am also interested in bioinformatics education, particularly
developing practical, accessible approaches to
teaching computational and data-analysis skills to life scientists.
Ganesh Anand's Research Interest:
Uncovering dynamics of cellular
macromolecular assemblies.
Jean-Paul Armache's Research Interest:
Mechanisms and functions of ATP-dependent
chromatin remodeling complexes and their place
in genome regulation.
Paul Babitzke's Research Interest:
Regulation of gene expression
by RNA structure and RNA-binding proteins.
Lu Bai's Research Interest:
Chromatin structure and its role
in gene regulation.
Philip Bevilacqua's Research Interest:
Attaining a molecular level understanding
of RNA in biology.
Jordan Bisanz's Research Interest:
The structure and function of the microbiome and
its impacts on health and disease.
Amie Boal's Research Interest:
The study of the structural
differences between members of large metalloenzyme
superfamilies that share common features but
promote different reactions
or use distinct cofactors
J. Martin Bollinger Jr.'s Research Interest:
The understanding of the relationship
between the structures and catalytic mechanisms
of enzymes that employ such clusters,
and to elucidate the biochemical mechanisms by which
the proteins acquire their clusters.
Paul Cremer's Research Interest:
The exploitation of linear and non-linear
vibrational spectroscopies to follow the
interactions of ions with peptides, proteins, and
macromolecules.
Marina Feric's Research Interest:
Biophysical mechanisms by which cells maintain their
organization over the course of aging.
Santhosh Girirajan's Research Interest:
Genetics of neurodevelopmental disorders.
Ying Gu's Research Interest:
The utilization of biochemical, molecular genetics, and
spectroscopic approaches to decipher mechanisms of
cellulose biosynthesis.
Michael Hanna's Research Interest:
We study how cells protect themselves from damaged or
dysfunctional lysosomes, the primary degradative compartment
in most eukaryotic cells. We are especially interested in the
mechanisms that repair damaged lysosomes and restore their critical
signaling functions.
Wendy Hanna-Rose's Research Interest:
We use genetic and metabolomics approaches in C. elegans
to model inborn errors of metabolism and probe
the molecular links between metabolic
perturbations and animal behavior and physiology.
Wen Jiang's Research Interests:
Structural studies of amyloids, viruses, and protein complexes
using single particle cryo-EM; In situ structural biology with
correlative light/electron microscopy (CLEM), volume EM, and
electron tomography; Development of new methods to improve
cryo-EM sample grid preparations, data collections, image
analyses and 3D reconstructions.
Joyce Jose's Research Interest:
The understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the
replication and assembly of flaviviruses and alphaviruses.
Teh-hui Kao's Research Interest:
We use Petunia inflata as a model to study biochemical,
molecular, and structural bases of a self/non-self
recognition mechanism between pollen and pistil
adopted by flowering plants to prevent in breeding
and promote outcrossing.
Andrey Krasilnikov's Research Interest:
Structural biology of catalytic ribonucleoprotein complexes.
Carsten Krebs' Research Interest:
The elucidation of the reaction mechanisms by which mono-
and dinuclear non-heme-iron enzymes activate dioxygen (O2)
for a wide variety of oxidative transformations.
Zhi-Chun Lai's Research Interest:
Growth Control and Cancer Genetics.
Arthur Lesk's Research Interest:
Computational analysis of protein structure, function,
genomics and evolution.
Scott E. Lindner's Research Interest:
The coupling of molecular parasitology and structural
biology to study the malaria parasite.
Manuel Llinás' Research Interest:
The combination of tools from functional genomics,
molecular biology, computational biology,
biochemistry, and metabolomics to understand the
fundamental molecular mechanisms underlying the
development of this parasite.
Shaun Mahony's Research Interest:
We build machine learning applications to
understand how transcription factors control cellular identity.
Melanie McReynold's Research Interest:
The understanding of the biochemistry behind aging,
and its intersection with stress, with the long-term
goal of identifying strategies that promote healthier aging.
Paul Medvedev's Research Interest:
Developing computer science techniques for analysis
of biological data and on answering fundamental biological
questions using such methods.
Timothy C. Meredith's Research Interest:
Bacterial cell envelope biosynthesis.
Tim Miyashiro's Research Interest:
We use microbial genetics, biochemistry, and cell biology
approaches to determine the molecular mechanisms that enable
bacteria to establish symbiosis with a eukaryotic host.
The model system is the symbiosis formed between the
bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri
and the Hawaiian bobtail squid Euprymna scolopes.
Our primary interests in this system include quorum sensing,
contact-dependent killing mechanisms, and sulfur metabolism.
Katsuhiko Murakami's Research Interest:
We apply cryo-EM and X-ray crystallography techniques to reveal
three-dimensional structures of DNA and RNA polymerases for
elucidating the mechanisms of DNA replication and RNA transcription.
Anton Nekrutenko's Research Interest:
Our lab is the birthplace of Galaxy.
It is developed and maintained together with our
collaborators and worldwide community. We also work on a variety
of topics related to mutational dynamics and experimental
evolution. We are also an integral part of the AnVIL project.
C. Denise Okafor's Research Interest:
The structural mechanisms of signaling and regulation
in protein complexes.
Andrew D. Patterson's Research Interest:
Understanding the host- metabolite-microbiota
communication network‚ specifically how the manipulation of
gut microbiota by diet and/or xenobiotics impacts
host metabolites (e.g., bile acids, short chain fatty acids),
their metabolism, and how these co- metabolites interact
with host ligand-activated transcription factors.
Robert F. Paulson's Research Interest:
The mechanism of tissue regeneration using the response
to anemia as a model system.
Jeffrey Peter's Research Interest:
The role of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs)
in the regulation of homeostasis, toxicology and carcinogenesis.
Joseph C. Reese's Research Interest:
Stress-induced gene expression and UV resistance pathways,
regulation of mRNAs from birth to death during stress responses,
targeted protein degradation during transcriptional stress and
how RNA Polymerase II contends with barriers throughout the genome.
Melissa Rolls' Research Interest:
The Rolls lab aims to understand how neurons generate axons
and dendrites with different microtubule organization, and
how neurons respond to injury. Current projects focus on
mechanisms that control microtubule polarity and dynamics
and mechanisms that promote neuronal regeneration.
Lorraine Santy's Research Interest:
We study the signal transduction and vesicular
trafficking processes that promote migration in
epithelial cells. We seek to understand the role
of these processes in normal homeostasis and in
pathological processes.
Scott B. Selleck's Research Interest:
Nervous system development and molecular mechanisms of
neurodegenerative disorders.
Scott Showalter's Research Interest:
The use of solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy,
in combination with thermodynamic analysis, chemical biology, and
cellular assays to advance understanding of protein function.
Moriah L. Szpara's Research Interest:
Understanding the consequences of HSV latency for the neurons
that harbor the HSV pathogen and the search for improved
therapeutics using a combination of virology, neurobiology,
next generation sequencing technologies, and bioinformatics.
Song Tan's Research Interest:
The understanding of how genes are regulated by
combining genetic, biochemical and structural
descriptions.
Emily Weinert's Research Interest:
The understanding of how the globin coupled sensor protein
family senses oxygen and transmits the binding signal into
downstream events.
Hemant Yennewar's Research Interest:
Elucidating molecular structures relevant to chemists, biochemists,
material scientists etc. and educating graduate students embarking
in these fields, the technique of X-ray diffraction (crystal growth,
data collection and structure solution and refinement, and interpretation).
The Department supports a consortium of academic teams that cuts across various research areas. The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department engages in an unsurpassed variety of research within the life sciences maintaining its deep and longstanding commitment to integrative, interdisciplinary team-building, and culture of deep collaboration, producing extraordinary outcomes. Discover the Centers and Facilities the Faculty in the Department utilize each and every day to further their research.
Departmental Training Grants
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Eukaryotic Gene Regulation Postdoctoral Training ProgramThis NIH-sponsored Training Program prepares young scientists to excel in both experimental and computational approaches to address fundamental questions in gene regulation. |
Biomedical Big Data to Knowledge (B2D2K)This NIH-sponsored Training Program comprises a diverse cohort of next-generation scientists engaged in integrative analyses of biomedical data to advance science and improve health. |
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