Research Overview

Dive Deep. Our specialized faculty conduct groundbreaking research in a wide variety of areas, improving our understanding in the fields of biochemistry and chemical biology. An extensive list of research faculty and their labs are associated with the program and provide opportunities for students to learn alongside them in their research efforts.

Faculty Highlights

Lauren Parker Jackson

Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biological Sciences

Through the Jackson Lab, Jackson and her team conduct extensive research on membrane trafficking pathways. Using a range of techniques in the modern life sciences, they explore how cells initiate and regulate these pathways that are so critical to human health and disease.

See a full publication list of work at the National Library of Medicine.

Sandra J. Rosenthal

Jack and Pamela Egan Professor of Chemistry

Through the Rosenthal Research Group, Rosenthal and her team study the synthesis, structure, and optical spectroscopies of semiconductor nanostructures. They are particularly interested in membrane proteins that regulate serotonin and dopamine, as these neurotransmitters are implicated in depression, autism, addiction, and bipolar disorder.

Manuel Ascano, Jr.

Associate Professor of Biochemistry

Through the Ascano Laboratory, Ascano and his team integrate novel biochemical, virological, immunological, and molecular and cell biological tools with high-throughput transcriptomic and proteomic technologies in an effort to elucidate the gene regulatory networks at play during immunologic stress. They’re looking to gain a deeper understanding of the physiological and pathological activities that surround RNA regulation enables us to leverage such information towards the development of novel vaccines and immunotherapeutics.