Chemistry and Physics of Living Systems
About
Research in the Chemistry and Physics of Living Systems aims to take a quantitative, rigorous approach to molecular cell biology. Our faculty investigate broad areas of molecular biology including gene regulation, macromolecular synthesis, molecular transport, cellular organization, and how cells make decisions. This research relies on advanced methods in analytical chemistry (mass spectrometry, NMR), biophysics (electron microscopy, computer simulations), and advanced imaging (super-resolution microscopy, single-molecule tracking). Our aim is to provide fundamental insights into biological processes across scales from molecular to organismal and address the most pressing problems in biomedicine and biotechnology. Our faculty span across many departments at UVA, forming a diverse and integrated group of teachers and mentors.
Faculty
Ai, Huiwang
Molecular Biosensors; Spatiotemporal Regulation of Biological Signaling; Protein Engineering for Imaging, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics
Bourne, Philip E
Data Science
Bushweller, John H.
Drug Development Targeting Transcription Drivers in Cancer; Structure/Function Studies of Transcription Factor Drivers in Cancer
Cafiso, David S.
Molecular Mechanisms for Membrane Transport and Cell Signaling
Columbus, Linda
Biophysical Chemistry: Membrane protein structure, function, and dynamics
Cross, Janet V.
Contribution of the Inflammatory Microenvironment to Tumor Initiation, Progression and Metastasis; Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer Chemoprevention
DuBay, Kateri
The design of self-assembling nanomaterials
Gahlmann, Andreas
Super-resolution fluorescence imaging of bacterial cells
Isakson, Brant
Translating our discoveries in the microcirculation to tangible benefits in patients.
Jomaa, Ahmad
Localisation of nascent proteins to sub-cellular compartments
Kasson, Peter M.
Physical mechanisms of infectious disease; influenza infection; membrane fusion; antibiotic resistance; molecular dynamics simulation; machine learning.
Kenworthy, Anne
Architecture and function of biological membranes
Kulkarni, Saurabh
Precision medicine, translational science, regeneration, organoids, high resolution imaging, computational modeling
Lampe, Kyle
Neural tissue engineering, biomaterials, drug delivery, redox regulation of stem cell fate, engineering cell-interactive microenvironments
Levental, Ilya
Composition, Biophysics and Physiology of Cellular Membranes
Redemann, Stefanie
Chromosome segregation and aneuploidy in meiosis and mitosis
Sheynkman, Gloria M.
Proteoform Systems Biology: proteogenomic approaches to uncover the role of proteomic variation in human disease
Swami, Nathan
Molecular and bioelectric devices; tissue regeneration.
Tamm, Lukas K.
Biomembrane Structure and Function; Cell Entry of Enveloped Viruses; Neurosecretion by Exocytosis; Structure of Bacterial Pathogen Membrane Proteins; Lipid-Protein Interactions
Venton, B. Jill
Analytical Neurochemistry; Dopamine and Serotonin Neurotransmission in Drosophila; Mechanisms of rapid adenosine signaling in rodents
Xie, Jinghang
Molecular Imaging; Cancer Immunology; Vaccines; Antibiotic Resistance.
Zimmer, Jochen
Transport of biopolymers across biological membranes with a particular interest in polysaccharide and protein translocation.