Research Overview

Research in the Department of Biological Sciences 

Our faculty consists of award-winning, internationally recognized scholars and researchers whose interests’ range across an array of disciplines, including biochemistry; molecular and cellular biology; neuroscience; evolution; genomics; microbiology; and ecology, evolution, and organismal biology. Our NIH- and NSF-funded research laboratories are populated by an energetic community of undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows who work closely with our research faculty and staff. Students in the biological sciences program are exposed to the practice of science with scientists at multiple levels of expertise and receive interdisciplinary training in addition to obtaining focused expertise in a specific area. Consequently, our trainees have a strong record of achievement; many of whom have been successful in pursuing careers in academia, industry, and government.  

The Department of Biological Sciences is unique in that it is a broad-based biology program that is both physically and intellectually aligned with an outstanding medical school comprised of several departments in the basic life sciences as well as the clinical enterprise that is Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Our research derives strength through our relationships with all parts of campus. Our faculty and students benefit from relationships with trans-institutional centers and programs including the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology; the Center for Structural Biology; the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology, and Inflammation (VI4); the Vanderbilt Brain Institute; the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center; the Evolution Initiative; the Microbiome Initiative; and many more.