Faculty

MCB 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

Associate 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

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

Marc Morais

Marc Morais

Faculty Co-Director, Electron Microscopy Center

Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Research Interests
utilizes cryo-electron microscopy, x-ray crystallography, and bioinformatics to elucidate the structures of complex macromolecular assemblies and machines; virus structure and the general principles by which viruses self-assemble; how virus self-assembly strategies can be targeted in the design of anti-viral therapeutics and the construction of nanomachines

Hengyao Niu

Hengyao Niu

Associate Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Affiliate Assistant 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

Craig Pikaard

Craig Pikaard

Distinguished Professor, Biology/Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Carlos O. Miller Professor, Biology/Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

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

Rachel Samson

Rachel Samson

Assistant Research Scientist, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

Research Interests
mechanisms of chromosome duplication and segregation

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

Adjunct faculty

Karen Bush

Karen Bush

Professor of Practice, Biotechnology

Adjunct Professor

Research Interests
define mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria; determine the susceptibility of resistant pathogens to new antibiotics

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

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

Scott Michaels

Scott Michaels

Assistant Vice President for Centers and Core Facilities, IU Research

Professor, Biology

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

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

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

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