The chemical biology Ph.D. path at UW-Madison provides a highly collaborative environment where students are inspired and challenged to develop into outstanding independent scientists through interdisciplinary research. This environment enables our graduates to emerge as world-class scholars, ready to lead in a variety of career paths.
Many exciting problems lie at interfaces between traditionally defined disciplines, and the interface between chemistry and biology is particularly rich in opportunities. Research groups affiliated with this Path bring together concepts and strategies from chemistry and biology to tackle important questions. Our program has helped to define this vibrant field, and UW-Madison is renowned for its strength at the chemistry-biology interface.
Chemical biology research at UW-Madison is exceptionally broad in scope. Members of our community develop new experimental and spectroscopic techniques to characterize biomolecules and biological phenomena, design, synthesize and evaluate new compounds and materials with novel biological activities, and engineer biomolecules with new functions.
Because chemical biology research is inherently collaborative, many groups conduct joint projects with others in the department or across the large UW-Madison campus or in other locations around the globe. Our teams enjoy working together and take pride in combining disparate ideas and methods to generate unique insights. Indeed, learning how to be an effective collaborator is a key component of training in our chemical biology Ph.D. program.
UW-Madison offers an unparalleled environment for Chemistry graduate students to develop excellence in chemical biology because of the vast community of outstanding biological researchers on our large and picturesque campus. Chemistry students can access the knowledge, seminars and specialized facilities in departments such as bacteriology, biochemistry, biomedical engineering, biomolecular chemistry, chemical and biological engineering, medical microbiology and immunology, and pharmacy. This deep reservoir of expertise, and the inherently open and interactive atmosphere of the Midwest, enable each student to push research in any productive direction that can be envisioned.
Active Chemical Biology Research Areas
- Spectroscopic study of biomolecular structure
- Mechanisms of in vitro and in vivo protein folding by time-resolved spectroscopy
- Development of new chemical and instrumental approaches to biological mass spectrometry
- In vivo fluorescence and single molecule dynamics
- Computational approaches to biomolecular structure and function
- Cell-cell signaling in prokaryotes and eukaryotes
- Synthesis and application of small- and large-molecule tools to study intercellular communication
- Elucidation of protein-, nucleic acid-, carbohydrate-, and small molecule-protein interactions, by application of diverse biophysical and chemical tools
- Fundamental mechanisms of RNA synthesis and processing
- Chemical glycobiology
- Assembly of biomolecules at surfaces
- New polymeric materials for gene or drug delivery or antimicrobial applications
- Integration of biological molecules with novel materials for nanoscale chemical sensing and bio-electronic integration
- Natural product biosynthesis and metabolic pathway engineering
- Enzyme mechanisms
- Directed evolution of new protein functions
- Design and characterization of protein-inspired molecules with novel structures and functions
- Harnessing biomolecular scaffolds for new functions
- Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analyses
Contacts:
Chemical Biology Path Chair
Andrew R. Buller
Graduate Program Coordinator
Erin Grunewald
Graduate Program Director
Francisca Jofre
Our Graduate Programs
Chemical Biology Faculty
Daniel Amador-Noguez
Position title: Associate Professor
Email:
amadornoguez
FOCUS GROUPS: Systems Biology; Molecular and Genome Biology of Microbes; Cellular and Molecular Metabolism RESEARCH DESCRIPTION: The metabolic activities of microbes have shaped the evolution of life on Earth, they touch every aspect of our…
Helen Blackwell
Position title: Norman C. Craig Professor of Chemistry
Email:
blackwell
Eszter Boros
Position title: Hall-Fisher Associate Professor of Chemistry, Affiliate Professor for the Department of Medical Physics, School of Medicine and Public Health, Associate Professor
Email:
eboros
BSc/MSc – University of Zurich (2003-2006/2007) PhD – University of British Columbia (2007-2011) Postdoc – Harvard Medical School (2011-2015) Instructor – Harvard Medical School (2015-2017) Assistant Professor – Stony Brook University (2017-2022) Associate Professor –…
Joshua J. Coon
Position title: Professor of Biomolecular Chemistry and Chemistry
Email:
jcoon
Ying Ge
Position title: Professor of Cell and Regenerative Biology and Chemistry
Email:
ge2
Samuel H. Gellman
Position title: Irving Shain Chair of Chemistry, Professor of Chemistry, Vilas Research Professor, Ralph F. Hirschmann Professor of Chemistry
Email:
gellman
Xuhui Huang
Credentials: Director, Theoretical Chemistry Institute
Position title: Hirschfelder Chair in Theoretical Chemistry, Professor of Chemistry
Email:
xhuang448
EDUCATION B.S. 2001, University of Science and Technology of China Ph.D. 2006, Columbia University Postdoctoral Fellow & Research Associate 2006-2009, Stanford University VIEW PUBLICATIONS RESEARCH DESCRIPTION Our research is in the area of Theoretical Chemistry…
Betül Kaçar
Position title: Associate Professor of Bacteriology
Email:
bkacar
Education PhD: Emory University, Department of Chemistry Postdoctoral research: NASA Astrobiology Institute and Harvard University Areas of Study Origins of life, astrobiology, early life and evolution, systems and synthetic biology, molecular paleobiology Research Overview The…
Lingjun Li
Position title: Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemistry
Email:
lli
David Lynn
Position title: Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Chemistry
Email:
dlynn
Sandro Mecozzi
Position title: Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemistry
Email:
sandro.mecozzi
Monica Neugebauer
Position title: Assistant Professor
Email:
meneugebauer
Bio: Neugebauer, Monica E.
Chad Rienstra
Position title: Evelyn M. Mercer Professor of Biochemistry Co-Director, National Magnetic Resonance Facility at Madison
Email:
crienstra
Jennifer Schomaker
Position title: Edward and Nancy Fody Professor of Chemistry
Email:
schomakerj
Lloyd M. Smith
Position title: W. L. Hubbell Professor of Chemistry, Hall-Fischer Professor of Chemistry
Email:
smith
Weiping Tang
Position title: Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemistry
Email:
wtang
James C. Weisshaar
Position title: Richard J. Burke Professor of Chemistry
Email:
weisshaar
Martin T. Zanni
Position title: V. W. Meloche-Bascom Professor of Chemistry
Email:
zanni
Chemical Biology Labs
Blackwell Group
The Blackwell Group is focused on the development of chemical strategies to manipulate bacterial cell-cell communication processes.
Boros Group
The Boros Group develops metal-based molecular imaging probes and therapeutics for personalized medicine.
Brunold Group
The Brunold Group investigates the geometric and electronic properties, and thus the reactivity, of metal centers in proteins and cofactors through combined spectroscopic and computational studies of key enzymatic states and synthetic inorganic model complexes.
Buller Group
The Buller Group research is focussed on how to engineer new biocatalytic reactions and do so with a broad substrate scope, a major challenge in enzymology.
Cavagnero Group
The Cavagnero Group focuses on understanding the early stages of protein folding and aggregation in the cell, with emphasis on the role of the ribosome, molecular chaperones and prions.
Coon Laboratory
The Coon Laboratory develops and applies mass spectrometric technology to study human health.
Gellman Group
The Gellman Group is focused on the design, synthesis and evaluation of new types of biopolymer-like molecules that display stable conformations and useful functions ("foldamers").
Goldsmith Group
The Goldsmith Group is developing new technology for controlling how light interacts with molecules, often at the level of single molecules.
Huang Laboratory
The main goal of the Huang Lab is to understand and manipulate biomolecular dynamics by developing and applying novel statistical mechanics-based methods that can bridge the gap between experiments and simulations.
Jin Group
The Jin Group is interested in the chemistry, physics, and technological applications of nanoscale and solid-state materials.
Martell Group
The Martell Group develops catalysts that merge the benefits of enzymes and synthetic chemistry, with applications spanning sustainable synthesis, chemical biology, and plastic recycling.
Schomaker Group
The Schomaker Group specializes in synthetic organic chemistry.
Smith Group
The Smith Group is an interdisciplinary group of researchers developing new technologies to drive biological research.
Todd Group
The Todd Lab's interest lies in investigating the origins of life on Earth and understanding the implications for the possibility of life on other planets.
Wang Group
The Wang Group research centers around protein folding and function, and how problems in this area can cause disease, inparticular neurodegenerative disorders.
Zanni Group
The Zanni Group studies topics in biophysics and the energy sciences using 2D IR spectroscopy.
The DAN Lab (Affiliate)
The primary focus of the "Dan Lab" lab is metabolomics and metabolic regulation in biofuel-producing bacteria, bacterial biofilms, and the human gut microbiome.
Forest Laboratory (Affiliate)
The Forest Lab studies biological interactions at the molecular level and is particularly interested in the structures, functions, and mechanisms of bacterial proteins with consequences to prokaryotic physiology and symbiosis with eukaryotes.
Ge Laboratory (Affiliate)
The Ge Lab's research is trans-disciplinary and cuts across the traditional boundaries of chemistry, biology, and medicine.
Hoskins Group (Affiliate)
The Hoskins Group uses highly multidisciplinary approach to studying eukaryotic RNA processing.
Kaçar Group (Affiliate)
The Kaçar group conducts science at the edge of disciplinary boundaries to understand of life on Earth and beyond.
Li Laboratory (Affiliate)
Research in the Li Lab focuses on developing and implementing an array of novel mass spectrometry-based strategies to answer questions about the most complex and elusive set of signaling molecules, the neuropeptides, and gain new insights into the roles that peptide hormones and neurotransmitters play in the plasticity of neural circuits and behavior.
Lynn Group (Affiliate)
Lynn Group research is focused broadly on the design and synthesis of functional organic materials and the fabrication and physical characterization of polymers, macromolecular assemblies, nanoscale materials, and surfaces/interfaces.
Mecozzi Laboratory (Affiliate)
The Mecozzi Lab research efforts focus on fundamental studies of non-covalent interactions and the application of the resulting findings to biochemical and biomedical problems.
Neugebauer Laboratory (Affiliate)
The Neugebauer Lab is interested in the discovery, characterization, and evolution of enzymes for biocatalysis and chemical biology.
Rienstra Laboratory (Affiliate)
The Rienstra Lab is interested in the development and application of solid-state NMR spectroscopy to protein, lipid and small molecule structure and dynamics.
Tang Laboratory (Affiliate)
The Tang Lab focuses on drug discovery, an interdisciplinary field that involves a broad range of skill sets.
Weeks Group (Affiliate)
The Weeks Group is a chemical biology lab focused on developing and applying enzymatic tools for spatially- and temporally-resolved mapping of post-translational modifications using mass spectrometry-based proteomics.