Molecular Biophysics Faculty

Jose Rizo-Rey, Ph.D.
Program Chair
Professor
Research Interests: Biophysical studies of the mechanisms of neurotransmitter release and intracellular membrane fusion

Joseph P. Albanesi, Ph.D.
Professor
Research Interests: Structure and assembly of neuronal cytoskeletal proteins; kinetics of force-generating enzymes; molecular basis of biomembrane fusion

Paul Blount, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms of channels that gate in response to membrane tension

Dominika Borek, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research Interests:  Eukaryotic chromatin organization, mutational rates and spectra, biological signals and noise

Chad Brautigam, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Basic processes in living organisms at atomic level, using X-ray crystallography, analytical ultracentrifugation, isothermal titration calorimetry, and other biophysical techniques

Min Chen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Statistical and computational methods for problems in molecular biology and genetics; research topics include microarray, GWAS, next generation sequencing, pathway-based genomics analysis, and eQTL

Zhe Chen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor 
Research Interests: Structural and functional studies of proteins in signal transduction

Yuh Min Chook, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Structures and mechanisms of nuclear transport and the nuclear pore complex

David R. Corey, Ph.D.
Professor
Research Interests: Engineering proteins and nucleic acids for novel function

Johann Deisenhofer, Ph.D.
Professor
Research Interests: Crystallography of biological macromolecules; structure and function of proteins

Kevin H. Gardner, Ph.D.
Professor
Research Interests: Biophysical and biochemical studies of photosensors and other environmental sensory proteins

Elizabeth J. Goldsmith, Ph.D.
Professor
Research Interests: Crystallographic studies of signal-transducing proteins

Nick Grishin (Nikolai Grichine), Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Computational biology; analysis of protein sequences and structures

Ryan Hibbs, Ph.D. 
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Ion channel structure-function, membrane protein structural biology

Khuloud Jaqaman, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Quantitative single-molecule imaging of receptor organization and signaling; linking molecular and cellular behavior across multiple scales; computational image analysis and data multiplexing

Qiu-Xing Jiang, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Structure and function of large membrane assemblies, including ion channels and transporters using electron cryo-microscopy and crystallographic analysis to generate 3D structures and perform functional studies in in vitro or in vivo systems

Youxing Jiang, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Structure and function of ion channels/transporters using X-ray protein crystallography and electrophysiological tools

Ege Kavalali, Ph.D.
Professor
Research Interests: Synaptic functional architecture and dynamics of presynaptic specializations

Xin Liu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor 
Research Interests: Roles of chromatin and nuclear organization in transcriptional regulation; structural and biochemical studies of chromatin dynamics during transcriptional activation and repression.

Hanzhang Lu, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Magnetic resonance studies of vascular physiology and metabolism of the brain

Xuelian (Sue) Luo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Protein structure determination by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR); protein folding; cell cycle checkpoints and cancer

Craig R. Malloy, M.D.
Professor
Research Interests: The analysis of metabolism in intact tissues by NMR spectroscopy; development of new methods to understand metabolic processes in functioning cells

Ralph P. Mason, Ph.D.
Professor
Research Interests: Development of novel techniques for prognostic radiology with emphasis on tumor oxygenation, pH and efficacy of gene therapy; nuclear magnetic resonance, bioluminescence, PET and SPECT

Matthew Merritt, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Understanding metabolic flux in living systems using stable isotope tracer technology. In addition, development of hardware for Dynamic Nuclear Polarization, a method for enhancing magnetic resonance signals by factors of 10000 or greater. 

Yunsun Nam, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Mechanisms of RNA-mediated gene regulation; Structural and biochemical studies of non-coding RNA function.

Zbyszek Otwinowski, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Three-dimensional structures of biological molecules

Margaret A. (Meg) Phillips, Ph.D.
Professor
Research Interests: Polyamine and pyrimidine metabolism in trypanosome and malaria parasites

Arun Radhakrishnan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor 

Rama Ranganathan, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Research Interests: The evolutionary design of proteins and cellular signaling networks

Luke Rice, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Integrating structure, kinetics, and computation to understand the molecular determinants and regulatory mechanisms of microtubule dynamics

Michael K. Rosen, Ph.D.
Professor
Research Interests: Structural, biochemical and cell biological mechanisms of signal transduction that control the actin cytoskeleton

Daniel Rosenbaum, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Structure and mechanism of integral membrane signaling proteins

Elliott Ross, Ph.D.
Professor
Research Interests: Mechanisms of G-protein signaling; amplification, selectivity, response timing; structure/function of GTPase-activating proteins and associated receptors

Sandra Schmid, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Mechanisms governing and regulation of clathrin-mediated endocytosis, structure and function of the GTPase dynamin

Philip J. Thomas, Ph.D.
Professor
Research Interests: Structure, function and folding of membrane proteins

Diana R. Tomchick, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Basic processes in living organisms at atomic level using X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy and other biophysical techniques

E. Sally Ward, Ph.D.
Professor
Research Interests: Antibody engineering; fluorescence microscopy; Fc receptor and growth factor receptor trafficking; development of therapies for cancer and autoimmunity

Guanghua (Andy) Xiao, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Statistical methods for genomics/proteomics and in spatial/image analysis

Yang Xie, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Processing and analysis of high throughput data; false discovery rate estimation; integrated analysis methodology; Bayesian analysis methodology; design and analysis of clinical trials

Hongtao Yu, Ph.D.
Professor
Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms of cell-cycle progression and mitotic checkpoints; structure determination of cell cycle regulatory proteins

Hong Zhang, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Structural enzymology; NAD biosynthesis and regulation; structure-based drug design

Xuewu Zhang, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Biochemical and Structural studies of regulation mechanisms for signaling proteins, especially receptor-mediated signaling pathways in neuron development and axonal guidance