Biological Chemistry Faculty
Benjamin Tu, Ph.D.
Chair
Research Interests: Metabolic cycles; mechanisms by which fundamental processes (e.g., cell growth and division, transcription, mitochondria homeostasis) are coupled to cellular metabolic state; yeast
Richard Bruick, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Regulation of the mammalian hypoxic response pathway
Igor Butovich, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Lipidomics; ocular (bio)chemistry; molecular enzymology; lipoxygenases, lipid peroxidation, and arachidonic acid cascade
Chuo Chen, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Natural product synthesis, synthetic methodology development, small molecule library synthesis and chemical biology
David Chuang, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Structure and function of macromolecular machines; mechanism of chaperone-mediated protein folding
Nicholas Conrad, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Gene expression and RNA biogenesis in Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpes virus
David Corey, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Engineering proteins and nucleic acids for novel function
Russell DeBose-Boyd, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Regulation of HMG-CoA reductase and sterol metabolism
Jef De Brabander, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Synthesis of natural products and other molecular architectures and interrogation of their mode-of-action, using molecular pharmacology and biochemistry
Ivan D'Orso, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Transcription control by RNA Polymerase II; assembly and regulation of viral and human transcription complexes; and mechanisms of transcription activation in HIV
George DeMartino, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Biochemical mechanisms and regulation of intracellular protein degradation; structure and function of intracellular proteases
J. R. Falck, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Total synthesis of natural products; synthetic methodology; organometalics; eicosanoids; medicinal chemistry
Kevin H. Gardner, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Biophysical and biochemical studies of photosensors and other environmental sensors
Marie-Alda Gilles-Gonzalez, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Mechanisms of O2, CO and NO sensing and in novel signal-transduction heme proteins
Bethany Janowski, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Gene regulation by small RNAs
Jennifer Kohler, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Understanding and exploiting the molecular foundations of glycoconjugate biosynthesis
Lazlo Kurti, Ph.D.
Research Interests:
Mark Lehrman, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Informational carbohydrates in the endoplasmic reticulum: roles in protein folding, stress responses, and human disease
Wen-Hong Li, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Intercellular communications through gap junctions; molecular engineering of fluorescent sensors for cellular imaging; wide field, confocal and multi-photon fluorescence microscopy; mechanisms and functions of cellular calcium signaling
Qinghua Liu, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Cellular use of small RNAs to specifically silence gene expression; harnessing the power of RNAi to shut down expression of pathological genes to cure human disease
John MacMillan, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Isolation and structural determination of biologically active natural products from marine bacteria; new methodology for stereochemical assignment; medicinal chemistry
Steven McKnight, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Molecular genetics and biochemical studies of mammalian gene regulation
Carole Mendelson, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms in tissue-specific, developmental and hormonal regulation of eukaryotic gene expression
Anthony Michael, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Evolution of biosynthetic diversity; role of polyamines in cellular processes
Peter Michaely, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Biochemical and structural study of receptor-mediated endocytosis and the membrane skeleton of the plasma membrane
Deepak Nijhawan, M.D., Ph.D.
Research Interests: Using chemistry to identify new cancer drug targets
Kim Orth, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Signal transduction in the microbial pathogen Yersinia pestis
Steven Patrie, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Proteomics; mass spectrometry and protein array methods development; mechanisms in autoimmune/neurodegenerative disorders; cancer epigenetics
Margaret Phillips, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Polyamine and pyrimidine metabolism in trypanosome and malaria parasites
Arun Radhakrishnan, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Protein-lipid interactions at membrane interfaces
Joseph Ready, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Discovery and application of new chemical reactions; total synthesis of complex molecules
Daniel Siegwart, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Polymer and materials chemistry, drug and gene delivery, RNAi, biomedical imaging, detection and treatment of cancer
Vanessa Sperandio, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Quorum sensing in enteropathogenic Escherichia coli
Uttam Tambar, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Synthesis of complex biologically active natural products, and development of new tandem methodologies
Diana Tomchick, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Structural characterization of signal-transduction protein complexes, proteins involved in reproductive biology, and novel proteins from pathogenic bacteria; improved methods of crystallographic data collection, processing, and phasing; automated crystallization techniques
Gomika Udugamasooriya, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Development of high affinity and specific peptidomimetics (e.g., peptoids), targeting specific cell surface receptors at a genome-wide approach for early detection and treatment of cancer
Kosaku Uyeda, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Elucidation of biochemical mechanisms for regulation of carbohydrate metabolism in mammalian cells
Noelle Williams, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Development of novel chemical leads from high throughput screens, new natural products, or rational target-based chemical design as viable therapeutics for preclinical models; areas explored include pharmacokinetics, formulation, metabolism, toxicology, and efficacy for a variety of disease models, including cancer, bacterial infections, and neurological disorders
Jin Ye, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Geranylgeranylation and HCV replication; regulation of geranylgeranyl lipid homeostasis; regulated intramembrane proteolysis