Credit: Dan Morse Lab

Conducting research at the intersection of biology and nanotechnology in exciting new interdisciplinary collaborations that combine the approaches of biochemistry, molecular biology, and biotechnology with the expertise of colleagues in the Departments of Materials Science, Physics, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, we are discovering the molecular mechanisms governing several biological processes that have technological consequences.

Affiliated Faculty

Teaching Professor
Biochemistry and molecular genetics of plant and yeast secondary metabolism; research on improving undergraduate science education with a particular emphasis on improving outcomes for students from groups that are underrepresented in STEM.
Department Chair
Distinguished Professor
Biochemistry; protein structure and function relationships; protein dynamics; chemotaxis in bacteria.
Professor
Molecular mechanisms of self/non-self recognition in non-vertebrates; characterization of stem cells and development processes underlying regeneration and aging.
Professor
Biochemistry and Cell Biology of Neuronal Development; Biochemistry of Neurodegenerative Diseases; Structure, Function and Regulation of the Microtubule Associated Protein, Tau; Cytoskeletal Regulation.
Assistant Professor
Combining biochemistry and cell biology to understand the regulation of membrane-bound organelles.
Molecular genetics and biochemistry of bacterial contact-dependent growth inhibition (CDI) systems; mechanisms of tmRNA- and ArfA-mediated ribosome rescue.
Associate Professor
Molecular mechanisms of signal transduction; Alzheimer's Disease and other protein aggregation/misfolding diseases; molecular biology, enzymology, and protein structure/function.
Research Professor
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Bio-inspired catalytic nanofabrication, tunable photonic materials and dynamic self-assembly. Applications to semiconductors, high-power batteries, electro-optics, IR and solar energy.
Assistant Professor
We investigate DNA repair mechanisms and use this knowledge to improve gene editing.
Distinguished Professor
Safinya’s research revolves around elucidation of structures and interactions in assemblies of biological molecules and soft matter systems, including, liquid crystalline biological matter.
Research Professor,
and C.A. Storke II Professor and Distinguished Professor, Emeritus
Antiviral innate immunity and interferon action, with focus on the roles of double-stranded RNA in translational control by the PKR kinase and A-to-I RNA editing by the ADAR1 deaminase.
Distinguished Professor
Structure-properties relationships in loadbearing marine biomolecular materials, e.g. from mussels, squid and whelks, at different length and time scales to design new materials.
Research Professor
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Mechanism and regulation of microtubule polymerization and dynamics; mechanism of action of microtubule-targeted anticancer drugs and microtubule-regulatory proteins.
Assistant Professor
Combines tools from Biology, Engineering, and Physics to understand the cell’s perceptual field.