Faculty Research Groups

Chemical Biology

The Interface Between Chemistry and Biology

The Chemical Biology faculty are using their chemical expertise to explore biological phenomena. Their research programs include studies of enzyme mechanisms, membrane structure and function, drug discovery, protein folding, cellular receptors, and macromolecular structure determination. Novel biosynthetic and chemical strategies are being used to synthesize small molecules for use in probing enzyme mechanisms, exploring ligand-receptor interactions and in treating disease. Methods such as high resolution NMR, mass spectrometry, stopped-flow kinetics, fluorescence, CD, UV/vis, and Raman spectroscopies are used to probe macromolecule structure, function and folding.

More information about the Chemical Biology Training Program.

	Elizabeth Boon Assistant Professor. Fundamentals and applications in biological sensing. Prokaryotic nitric oxide biology. Fundamentals and applications of the H-NOX family. Peptide and protein engineering for novel sensing applications.
	Isaac Carrico Assistant Professor. Introduction of small molecules into biological systems for the purpose of tracking or perturbing cellular processes. Metabolic engineering. Protein engineering. Bioorthogonal reaction development.
	Dale Drueckhammer Professor. Computer-based design and synthesis of receptors and sensors for biomolecules. Design and synthesis of enzyme inhibitors. Enzyme reaction mechanisms
	Joanna Fowler Affiliated Professor. Organic synthesis and neurochemistry; radiotracer synthesis with positron emitters; mechanistic studies relating to the development of radiotracers for positron emission tomography (PET); translational applications of radiotracers to problems in neuroscience; PET studies of neurotransmitter activity, enzyme activity and drug mechanisms.
	David Green ffiliated Assistant Professor. Computational biology of protein interactions.
	Frank Johnson Professor. Synthesis of viral enzyme inhibitors. Chemical aspects of genetic toxicology. New organo-alkali synthetic chemi
	Erwin London Professor. Membrane protein structure and folding. Cell entry by membrane-penetrating bacterial toxin proteins. Role of cholesterol in membrane structure.
	Lisa Miller Affiliated Associate Professor. Applications of synchrotron x-ray and infrared imaging to diseases such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer’s disease.
	Iwao Ojima Distinguished Professor. Design, synthesis, and structure-activity relationships of medicinally-active compounds, especially for the drug design and discovery of anticancer agents and antimicrobials. Development of new and efficient methods for the synthesis of biologically active compounds of medicinal interests.
	Dan Raleigh Professor. Experimental studies of protein folding and amyloid formation.
	Robert Rizzo Affiliated Assistant Professor. Quantifying molecular recognition with computational structural biology.
	Jon Rudick Assistant Professor. Design and synthesis of bioactive oligomers, peptides and bioconjugates. Molecular recognition of biomacromolecules. Nanostructured materials for biotechnology applications (e.g., sensors and diagnostics).
	Nicole Sampson Professor. Bioorganic chemistry and mechanistic enzymology. Investigation of the structure and function of cholesterol oxidase protein-membrane interactions, and its relationship to Mycobacterium tuberculosis pathogenesis. Synthesis of peptides and polymers to probe the role of ADAM proteins in mammalian fertilization.
	Orlando Scharer Associate Professor. Our work combines organic chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular and cellular biology to investigate the mechanisms of DNA repair in higher eukaryotes and the relationship of these processes to anti-tumor and gene therapy.
	Jessica Seeliger Assistant Professor. New perspectives on how Mtb exploits its membrane structure and composition to interact with its human host environment. The results could impact how we design antibiotic therapies against Mtb and other bacterial pathogens.
	Carlos Simmerling Professor. Development of tools for efficient simulation of chemical systems and using them to study the structure and dynamics of molecules involved in biological processes.
	Peter Tonge Professor. Biological chemistry and enzymology. Quantitating substrate strain in enzyme-catalyzed reactions using vibrational and NMR spectroscopies. Rational drug design. Pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Structure-function studies of fluorescent proteins.
	Jin Wang Professor. Theoretical biophysics and biophysical chemistry; protein folding; molecular recognition; biomolecular reaction dynamics; single molecules.