TSRI Faculty Interests

Chemistry

Baran, Phil  
explores new avenues for the efficient and practical construction of organic molecules, both naturally occurring and man-made, by pursuing longstanding synthetic challenges and by designing methods of broad utility.

Boger, Dale  
works on the total synthesis of biologically active natural products using the tools of organic synthesis to identify, imitate, understand, exploit, and sometimes surpass what nature provides.

Dawson, Philip  
develops novel chemical ligation methodologies for the synthesis of natural and chemically engineered proteins to develop novel peptide based vaccines for HIV-1, study the molecular basis of protein folding and enzymatic catalysis, conjugate biological macromolecules to in complex systems such as cells, viruses and Quantum Dots and to develop synthetic protein pharmaceuticals.

Finn, M.G.  
uses viruses as building blocks for biologically active structures, diagnostic agents, immunogenic platforms, and drug delivery vehicles; and also develops new bioconjugation methods, enzyme inhibitors, and functional materials using "click chemistry," and studies organic and organometallic reaction mechanisms.

Fokin, Valery  
develops preactical catalytic transformations for organic synthesis, combinatorial chemistry, chemical biology, and materials research; searches for novel antiviral agents, nicotinic receptor ligands, and protease inhibitors.

Ghadiri, M.Reza  
develops novel methods for the rational design and construction of functional and interesting bioorganic molecules, such as novel antimicrobial agents, catalytic peptides, biosensors, self-replicating systems, and molecular logic gates.

Joyce, Gerald  
studies the test-tube evolution of RNA and DNA enzymes, both to explore their potential biomedical applications and to examine their possible role in the early history of life on Earth.

Millar, David  
uses single-molecule fluorescence and time-resolved laser spectroscopy to study the dynamics of enzyme-DNA interactions and the folding of catalytic RNA molecules.

Nicolaou, K.C.  
works on the total synthesis of biologically active natural and designed molecules and the discovery and development of new synthetic strategies and technologies.

Noodleman, Louis  
uses quantum chemistry and protein electrostatics to investigate the electronic structures and active site mechanisms of redox metalloproteins, such as respiratory iron-sulfur proteins, the nitrogen fixing nitrogenase enzyme, and the iron-oxo dimer enzymes methane monooxygenase and ribonucleotide reductase.

Paulson, James  
studies carbohydrate recognition and the molecular biology of carbohydrate binding proteins, like CD22, which mediate key aspects of cell signaling in the immune system.

Powers, Evan  
is interested in the energetics and mechanisms of protein folding and aggregation.

Rebek Jr., Julius  
studies basic questions of molecular recognition, self-assembly, catalysis, and complementarity by designing novel organic molecular nanocapsules and synthetic receptors.

Romesberg, Floyd  
seeks to understand and evolve novel protein function by expanding the genetic code, to understand the molecular basis of DNA damage, repair, and mutagenesis, and to use femtosecond laser pulses to probe protein dynamics.

Sharpless, K. Barry 
discovers new and useful transformations for organic synthesis, particularly employing inorganic catalysts and olefin-derived compounds of high reactivity; he also applies "in situ" click chemistry, which makes enzymes into reaction vessels and templates for the formation of their own inhibitors.

Yu, Jin-Quan  
Discovers regioselective and enantioselective reactions based on C-H activations and applies these reactions to drug discovery and natural product synthesis.