Research Specialties

Biochemistry and biophysics are interdisciplinary research tools applied for solving biological problems at the level of molecular mechanism and structure. Biochemical and biophysical research is advancing the frontiers of research in the basic life sciences by, for example, elucidating mechanisms of drug action and enabling rational drug design.

Together, cell and developmental biology reveal the step‐by‐step transition from molecules to morphology to tissue function. Such studies provide an understanding of how variations in molecules and pathways result in morphological and functional diversity in plants and animals. Research in this area also reveal the mechanisms of how cellular and developmental processes go awry in disease, and how stem cells can regenerate tissues.

These allied fields explore biology at the level of individual organisms, populations, species and communities. Research includes the study of patterns of distribution and abundance of organisms (Ecology), behavioral adaptations to environment and social challenges (Behavior), and processes and patterns of evolutionary change (Evolution), as well as the application of these disciplines to the conversation of biodiversity.

Genetics and molecular biology are both disciplines (the study of heredity and of gene expression) and experimental approaches (manipulation of genes and gene expression). A recently explosion in this area is the widespread role of small RNAs such as microRNAs in the regulation of gene expression. Model organism genetics and genomics play a prominent role in these areas.

Researchers in this area investigate adaptive and non-adaptive responses to non-self and some self substances, as well as the interrelationship of viruses and certain human malignancies, as part of research into infection, inflammation, allergy, cancer, and autoimmune disorders.

Neurobiology research groups are examining how neurons make synaptic connections to form networks in the brain, and how the networks function to generate complex behaviors, including memory and consciousness. New approaches are emerging to answer fundamental questions extending from the molecular level up through systems and circuits and on to behavioral readout, computational analysis and modeling of brain function.

Members of this group use plant models to address questions of broad interest, including the generation of plant form, circadian rhythms, responses to environmental change, plant nutrition, soil detoxification, signaling network architecture, and the production of therapeutic proteins and biofuels.

Fundamentally, signal transduction research explores how a cell knows what to do and when to do it. Understanding the complex series of inter-connected cascades inside the cell will eventually provide a detailed roadmap for how cells work. Signal transduction research provides the unique opportunity to uncover the basis of human disease and ultimately the development of novel therapeutic strategies to treat cancer, cardiovascular, neurological and metabolic disorders.

Systems biology investigates systems of biological information at all levels of resolution, from molecules of DNA in the genome, through RNA, proteins, complexes, pathways and signaling networks, cells, tissues, and entire organisms. Reasoning over information at all these levels, meaningfully integrating such datasets, and uncovering the properties of these systems is the main challenge of systems biology.