Faculty

Faculty

Carl Bauer

Carl Bauer

Distinguished Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Adjunct, Biology

Research Interests
regulation of gene expression by environmental factors such as light and oxygen; Differentiation of bacteria into different cell types

Stephen Bell

Stephen Bell

Distinguished Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Distinguished Professor, Biology

Research Interests
molecular biology of the archaea; mechanistic and regulatory parameters that govern DNA replication, gene transcription and cell division

Matthew L. Bochman

Matthew L. Bochman

Director of Graduate Studies, Biochemistry Graduate Program

Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Affiliate, Biology

Research Interests
maintenance of genomic integrity with a focus on DNA helicases and other factors involved in DNA replication, recombination, and repair; the evolution of DNA helicases

Lingling Chen

Lingling Chen

Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Research Interests
Microbial structure, function and mechanism; evolution of chaperonin Hsp60; cryo-EM studies of human mitochondrial Hsp60

Kay Choi

Kay Choi

Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Research Interests
Replication mechanism of RNA viruses; Structure and function of viral RNA; Development of RNA scaffolds to facilitate structure determination by X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy

Charles E. Dann III

Charles E. Dann III

Associate Professor, Chemistry

Research Interests
protein structure-based drug design targeting cells involved in epithelial cancer and autoinflammatory disease. Biochemical, mechanistic, and X-ray crystallographic analyses of regulatory RNAs; developing riboswitch-based molecular sensors

Bogdan Dragnea

Bogdan Dragnea

Provost Professor, Chemistry

Research Interests
virus-based biomaterials; biophotonics; biophysical chemistry of virus self-assembly; methodologies for measuring microscopic dynamics in supramolecular complexes

Jim Drummond

Jim Drummond

Chair, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Associate Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Adjunct, Biology

Research Interests
limited alphabet coding sequences and proteins: a minimalist approach to structure and function

J.P. Gerdt

J.P. Gerdt

Assistant Professor, Chemistry

Research Interests
molecules that drive interkingdom symbioses

David P. Giedroc

David P. Giedroc

Distinguished Professor

Lilly Chemistry Alumni Professor, Chemistry

Adjunct, Biology

Research Interests
metal sensor proteins in pathogenic bacteria; NMR structural studies of regulatory RNAs in mammalian RNA viruses

Peter C. Hollenhorst

Peter C. Hollenhorst

Associate Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Medical Sciences Program

  • pchollen@indiana.edu
  • (812) 855-1151
  • Indiana University School of Medicine Bloomington - BB 213C, MSCI

Research Interests
research focuses on the mechanisms that allow genome sequence to dictate the transcriptional control of gene expression

Heather A. Hundley

Heather A. Hundley

Associate Professor, Biology

Sagalowsky Professor of Biology

  • hahundle@indiana.edu
  • (812) 855-0675
  • Indiana University School of Medicine Bloomington - JH 213C, MSCI

Research Interests
research utilizes a combination of biochemistry, genomics and molecular biology to both charaterize the effects of editing on gene expression and elucidate molecular mechanisms that are important for regulating RNA editing

Scott Michaels

Scott Michaels

Professor, Biology

Chair, Biology

Research Interests
regulation of chromatin structure and gene expression by epigenetic modificationsregulation of chromatin structure and gene expression by epigenetic modifications

Hengyao Niu

Hengyao Niu

Director of Graduate Studies, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Affiliate Professor, Biology

Research Interests
detection and repair of DNA breaks with a focus on Homologous Recombination (HR) mediated DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair; interplay of DNA repair machinery and chromatin structures

Martha Oakley

Martha Oakley

Professor, Chemistry

Affiliate, Biology

Research Interests
specific recognition by proteins of biologically relevant ligands; bacterial chromosome segregation; coiled coil proteins; structure and function of condensins and other structural maintenance of chromosomes proteins

Jesper Pallesen

Jesper Pallesen

Assistant Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Research Interests
Viral glycoprotein structure and function; characterization of human immunobiological interactions with pathogens; DNA recombination; cryo-EM method development; molecular modeling and -simulations

John Patton

John Patton

Professor, Biology

Blatt Chair of Virology

Microbiology Section Associate Chair, Biology

Craig Pikaard

Craig Pikaard

Distinguished Professor, Biology

Carlos O. Miller Professor, Biology

HHMI Investigator

Research Interests
mechanisms of RNA-mediated gene silencing and large-scale epigenetic control

Rachel Samson

Rachel Samson

Assistant Research Scientist, Interdisciplinary Biochemistry Program

Research Interests
Mechanisms of chromosome duplication and segregation

Jonathan Schlebach

Jonathan Schlebach

Assistant Professor, Chemistry

Research Interests
folding, processing, and quality control of integral membrane proteins in the cell; high –throughput characterization of rare mutations in disease-linked integral membrane proteins

Megan Thielges

Megan Thielges

Associate Professor, Chemistry

Research Interests
applying and further developing linear and multidimensional infrared spectroscopy in combination with chemical and biological methods for site-selective protein labeling toward understanding biological systems

Julia van Kessel

Julia van Kessel

Assistant Professor, Biology

Research Interests
bacterial cell-cell communication (quorum sensing), gene regulation, bacterial development, microbial genetics and biochemistry

Michael VanNieuwenhze

Michael VanNieuwenhze

Standiford H. Cox Professor, Chemistry

Affiliate, Biology

Research Interests
synthesis, study, and design of antibiotics that inhibit bacterial cell wall biosynthesis; peptidoglycan biosynthesis and bacterial cell morphology; development of HBV capsid-binding probes and assembly-directed antivirals; oxidized phospholipids in disease and diagnostics

Claire E. Walczak

Claire E. Walczak

Assistant Director of Research, Medical Sciences Program

Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Medical Sciences Program

Adjunct Professor of Anatomy & Cell Biology, Medical Sciences Program

Adjunct Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences, IU Bloomington

  • cwalczak@indiana.edu
  • (812) 855-5919
  • Indiana University School of Medicine Bloomington - Myers Hall 262, MSCI

Research Interests
research studies the fundamental molecular and cellular mechanisms that lead to the proliferative growth associated with cancer

Malcolm Winkler

Malcolm Winkler

Professor, Biology

Adjunct Core Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Research Interests
physiology, molecular genetics, and pathogenesis of the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus); Genomics and Bioinformatics, Microbial Cell Biology; environmental responses; microbial interactions and pathogenesis

Yan Yu

Yan Yu

Associate Professor, Chemistry

Research Interests
research vision is to quantify and control cell behavior with novel materials and chemical approaches

Joshua Ziarek

Joshua Ziarek

Assistant Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Adjunct, Biology

Research Interests
G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) structure and signaling; neurotensin receptor; serotonin receptors; cannabinoid receptors; directed evolution; structural biology; cell-free protein synthesis; nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy

Adam Zlotnick

Adam Zlotnick

Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Adjunct, Biology

Adjunct, Chemistry

Research Interests
biophysics of virus assembly related to virus biology, development of antiviral strategies, and construction of virus nanostructures